Like A Star
by McEverything
Summary: AU MerDer High School fanfiction Meredith moved out of Seattle in her young life, but is brought back in sophomore year. Can she adjust to her new life? How will her old acquaintances and neighbours react to her reappearance and will she ever meet her longlost father again?
1. Chapter 1

Thatcher Grey looked at his baby girl with complete awe, amazed at how her chubby little legs were beginning to move on their own without his guiding hands taking the balance. Her green eyes sparkled as her pale face filled with joy, her mouth gurgling in the adorable way which one year olds often did. Her golden hair, which sprouted late as a baby, had thickened and formed a frizzy bob, which, if she didn't refuse, would twine nicely behind her ear.

He was sure that he loved Meredith much more than her mother ever would; the only reason Thatcher guessed Ellis even had the baby in the first place was to give him something to do apart from whine at her how their three year marriage had become loveless. He could see the resentment in Ellis' eyes every time Meredith called out, "Mommy" in her angelic tone, or tugged lightly at her leg, hoping to be cradled in her mother's arms. Meredith deserved a mother who wouldn't scream whenever she came within a five mile radius.

Thatcher lifted out his arms as Meredith struggled to maintain her stability, edging closer and closer to her father's adoring, open hug. She finally collapsed just as she reached him; his hands ran forward to catch her and lift her high into the crisp and slightly damp air that had formed after the latest rainfall.

"Thatcher," a bitter voice that he instantly recognised shouted from the porch, "What _are _you doing with Meredith?"

He turned to look at his wife, who had changed into a fresh teal sweater and pair of trousers, and was fumbling around, irately, in her brown purse, undoubtedly looking for her car keys. He sighed, already realising what was happening, but asked, in hope that for once it was not true, "What are you, I mean, um, where are you off to, at, um, this time of day?"

Her head popped up, a cold look sat upon her stern face, before she replied, "Thatcher, don't stutter. You know how it annoys me when you stutter like that. It makes you seem incompetent."

"I, uh, I am sorry Ellis," he stuttered, flinching at the realisation that he had just done so again. "So, where are you going?"

"I'm going to the hospital. They paged me 911."

"So yet another evening, you are rushing back to the place where you spend all day. You never see Meredith anymore. I doubt she even knows she has a mother at this point."

Ellis retorted, "They paged me 911, Thatcher. Stop acting like a woman. And stop coddling Meredith, she's not a puppy, you know?"

Thatcher sighed, still unable to understand her lack of compassion towards her own daughter. "Ellis, just go already. I can tell you're never going to understand how to be a decent mother, even though it occurs that being a good doctor requires a certain amount of compassion."

Ellis cackled slightly, moving over to the car door and pulling the metal frame outwards. "I'm not a good doctor though, Thatcher," she said, a hint of smugness in her voice, "I'm a great doctor."

Thatcher watched her cream sedan pull out of the drive that slid down the side of the house. She claimed a 911 page was the reason she had to go dashing off on a Sunday afternoon, which was the first day she had been able to get off in a month, but in his mind he knew it had something to do with Richard Webber – the man Ellis worked with predominantly at Seattle Grace Hospital. He had heard too many stories about how they worked impeccably together; their techniques supposedly complimented the others, whatever that meant.

He looked down at Meredith with a look of pity on his face, aware that she was oblivious to the abandonment she was suffering at the hands of her mother. She looked up into his grey, aching eyes and reached out her fingers to his nose, which she cheerfully pinched. Thatcher wished that he could take her away from this, the life she would have to live, and it took all his strength to lay his daughter back down on the ground to resist running away with her and never turning back.

At that moment, a moving van tumbled down the suburban lane; a big red sign on the sign labelled "Smooth Move" came into view. Thatcher turned to see what the blaring vehicle was doing, curious as any suburban stay at home parent would be – that was what his life had turned out to be – and saw it halt to a stop outside the house opposite to the Grey's.

Out of the van stepped a caring looking woman, with whom Thatcher presumed to be her husband in tow. He waved over to his new neighbours as they cast a glance in his direction, although he was sure they knew he was more concerned with being nosy than neighbourly. They hesitated momentarily and flashed huge smiles back, before calling back into the van.

Then, as if clowns were emerging from a small car, out came three young girls, around the ages of six, eight and ten, with the oldest holding a new born babe in her small arms. A young boy was the last out, younger than the girls, easily, but at least four years old. He seemed discontent for some reason; Thatcher thought it might have something to do with the move but the annoyance in the boy's eyes suggested something else.

The new neighbours didn't procrastinate long before crossing the road to meet the inquisitive stranger they had just moved across from, and from the noise the huge family of seven made, Meredith crawled by the side of her father to try to see what he was startled by. Her father saw her pushing through the long grass that was long overdue for being mown, and picked her up gently in his arms resting her head against his shoulder. By this time, the mother of the family had arrived, the rest of her clan not far behind, and held out a hand.

"Good afternoon, neighbour," she said cheerfully, looking into Meredith's eyes and cooing at the one year old.

Thatcher tried to juggle his daughter around to release his arm in order to reciprocate her handshake but failed, and laughed awkwardly to himself, "I'm sorry, I, uh, kind of have my hands full."

The woman nodded understandingly, before introducing herself, "I'm Carolyn Shepherd, and this is my husband Christopher," she gestured to the grown man to her right, who was trying, with no avail, to settle his children down. "These are my _lovely _children, Nancy, Kate, Lizzie, Amelia and – oh where have you gone – Derek."

The young boy was sitting on the sidewalk, looking defeated, only looking up to give a meagre, "Hi," then continuing to stare at the gravel road, while his mother tried to ignore the concern growing on Thatcher's face.

Thatcher looked away from the boy, introducing his own toddler to his new acquaintances, "My name is Thatcher. Thatcher Grey. And this is my daughter Meredith. I, I'm afraid her mother isn't here at the moment, but for future reference, her name is Ellis."

"Ellis Grey?" Carolyn asked, engrossed by the mention of her name, "As in **_the _**Ellis Grey?"

Thatcher laughed, guessing she had heard of his infamous wife. He was used to these kinds of comments referring to Ellis; almost every doctor alive or anyone remotely interested in medicine had heard of the revolutionary Ellis Grey. He, of course, had little understanding towards the fascination with Ellis; she had complained many times that his ignorance, although possibly bliss for him, was degrading to her status as the most admired female surgeon in the game. Meredith was supposed to be a game changer – with hope, Ellis would've taken to being a mother and relaxed on her hospital duties – but with no luck. He found himself leaving an almost uncomfortable silence between his new neighbours while dozing off in deep thought, before snapping out, "Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, yes, the Ellis Grey. That's the one."

Christopher Shepherd nodded politely, ignoring Thatcher's unease at the mention of his wife's name. "This really is a wonderful little cul-de-sac we have moved into. I hear that there is a wonderful view of the city from up there," he said, pointing to a far-away hill that Thatcher had not even realised existed, "My boy and I are sure to have fun hiking up there." He pointed to his one and only son, Derek, who had not moved from his position except perhaps to move further away from his family a few inches.

Thatcher looked at the miserable boy with concern in his eyes, asking Carolyn and Christopher delicately, "Um, is he, I mean I don't mean to intrude, but is he okay?"

Carolyn rolled her eyes, glancing over to her son, who may or may not have been blissfully unaware of his moodiness being asked about by the man who would live opposite him. "He's having a hard time since the move. You see, his best friend, Mark, practically lived with us since his own home seemed so unwelcoming. His parents would go on vacations for days on end, all the while leaving a five year old boy to make do by himself. It was a real pity. He's such a nice boy and all," she sighed, the eyes looking up into the cloudy sky that promised even more rain, "It's just, we had to move. There was no choice about it. But, Christopher and myself not being legal guardians of Mark – even though we damn well should be – meant that we couldn't drag him halfway across the country with us. It's not like his parents would have noticed or even bothered, but we're good folk; we do try to stay within the law."

Thatcher nodded sympathetically, thinking about how being taken away from your best friend could turn your whole life upside down. Meredith was wriggling persistently in his arms, wanting to be put down so she could crawl without assistance, and Thatcher willingly complied, all the while keeping a steady eye on her as she climbed through the long strands of grass, which caused the sweet dew to stick onto her checked pinafore.

She made a beeline for the sad looking boy sitting on the edge of the road, interested in grabbing his black, thick, curly locks with her stubby fingers, as she had longed to do with her mother's own hair several times. Unlike her attempts with her mother, she was unsure whether he would turn her away, and shout at her father for letting her run amuck. Her bare knees collided with the cool pavement on every crawl, and it sent a tingling feeling up to her brain, causing her to shake her mini curls around with a spasm of her neck.

Derek was unaware of her presence beside him, as she stared into his deep blue eyes, fascinated as any one year old could be. Without warning, she climbed onto his lap, resting her large, diaper clad bottom on his knee. He looked at her with inquisitiveness, unsure about why she had clambered onto his lap since he didn't even know her name, although he let her stay put.

Her tiny lips puckered as she tried in vain to get the words out of her mouth, yet without any knowledge of how to be articulate, she just whispered, "Hi."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I kind of forgot to do an author's note last time, but this is my first fanfic and I really hope that you enjoy it. Reviews are always appreciated even if it is constructive criticism, however I will continue to write this story until the end regardless. I have written the first six updates, so hopefully I'll always be a few chapters ahead and be able to update regularly. I know this chapter is very small but I wanted to show how much Thatcher and Ellis don't get along before the next chapter, so I guess it's a bit of a filler.**

**Thanks to my first reviewer ****_two hearts _****and I hope that you can see a little bit of friendship through the next few chapters, but later on they definitely will reminisce quite a lot.**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Grey's Anatomy or any of its characters. I would probably do a really bad job at it, so it's for the best.**

Smoke filled the garden of the Shepherd household, and a reasonable amount of noise could be heard down the lane. It was the sort of thing that would generally annoy the other occupants of the street, if it had not been that they had been invited to join the family on such an occasion.

The oldest four of the Shepherd clan were running around the moderately sized yard, trying in vain to keep from dying of boredom while they waited for their burgers to be grilled on the massive barbeque. They were engrossed in a small game of tag; Nancy, the oldest sibling, having found it difficult to catch any of her more energetic sisters decided to go after Derek, who she promptly cornered.

"There's no way you're getting out of it this time," Nancy taunted Derek, slowly walking towards him with her hand ready to slap him.

Derek looked around for an escape, pleading, "This is unfair Nancy, let me go. You know I'll never be able to catch up with Lizzie of Kate."

"Exactly the point I've been chasing you," Nancy said, looking smug as she added, "Don't tell me you've become a pansy."

Groaning from acceptance, he stood forward, allowing Nancy to run off into the large crowd that had huddled around the single table that was placed in the yard. There were still various families that he did not recognize entering the back from the house, and he wondered how many people could live on one street. And why would they want to spend their Fourth of July at the Shepherd house, waiting hours for the burgers and hot dogs to be cooked. It just didn't make sense.

Seeing one family that he could identify, he rushed over to the Greys as they walked down the few steps and onto the green lawn. Meredith looked uncomfortable as both Thatcher and Ellis held on to her hands, her arms being stretched too high above her head; however neither parent seemed to acknowledge this.

Thatcher was the first to see the brown haired, blue eyed boy running towards them and greeted him pleasantly, "Derek! It's good to see you again."

Derek smiled, and reciprocated the welcome, "Mr Grey, it's nice that you could join us today." He then turned to whom he assumed to be the legendary Mrs Ellis Grey, although in the half a year that the Shepherd had lived on the street, he had never once seen her. "Mrs Grey, it's wonderful to finally meet you."

Ellis looked impressed at the young boy's manners, letting go of her daughter's hand so she could extend it to Derek, "Well, I could only wish that I could say that my daughter is as articulate as you are. I'm afraid she is determined to speak in that annoying, babyish way."

"Ellis, she's only just two," growled Thatcher to his wife, hoping not to make a scene.

"Exactly, Thatcher, she's two. That means she should already be able to say more than 'Hi', or 'Food'. She should already be able to form sentences of some sort."

"So she's not quite at that stage yet. I'm not sure what you're expecting from her though. She's not going to come out with a speech that could compete with the Queen's. Give her time Ellis, and lower your expectations."

Derek, feeling awkward throughout the encounter he had got himself into with Ellis and Thatcher, looked at how Meredith wasn't listening intently to what her parents had to say and rather was staring off into the distance. She looked as if she had already witnessed the hardships of the world at only two years old. He felt the sudden urge to protect her from her terrible parents and allow her to have fun, something he was sure she didn't have much of in the company of the cold hearted Ellis.

He coughed slightly, gaining the Greys' attention, before suggesting, "Maybe Meredith would like to come and play with my sisters and me."

Meredith looked at her parents for the first time since she had left their house across the street, and hoped for some sign that they approved. Seeing her father nod his head softly, she took Derek's hand and ran off in the direction of Lizzie Shepherd.

**Thanks for reading :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews. You guys are all so sweet. I've decided to update two times a week, once on Saturday and once on Wednesday, so they are spread out evenly. Well, this update is skipping a bit of time to the point when Meredith is 5 and Derek should be 8, but Derek is only really 2 and a half years older, so don't worry, it'll work out in the end. I also realise now I'm making Ellis out to be a complete bitch, I didn't really intend for her to be that bad but oh well…**

**Disclaimer: I don't know if I need to do this every update, but it's pretty obvious I don't own Grey's Anatomy or any of its characters, right?**

Ellis sighed, turning her back to her husband. She found herself unable to comprehend why he was acting so turbulent towards her. It wasn't as if she hadn't done some things that were questionable; she just never expected Thatcher to actually grow some balls and get into an argument with her.

She was legendary at her arguments, much alike her surgical skills. You didn't have to ask far to realise that. It was well known that if you tried to reschedule one of Ellis' slots in the OR, you would not succeed, and Ellis prided herself in maintaining that superiority over her colleagues. It left her few friends at work in the process, but with the few she had, namely Richard Webber, she was content.

"Are you not denying that you have spent three nights last week on call?" he demanded, and, although his question was distinctly rhetorical, he still expected some answer from his wife.

"No, of course not. I wouldn't have a reason to lie about something like that." She tried to remain composed but she was growing irritated at his extremely dumb reasons for picking a fight, rather than going straight for the goldmine. She was, of course, referring to her affair with Richard. It didn't take a genius to grasp that they were more than just friends, even if they both had other halves. Apparently, Thatcher prided himself on being an idiot.

"Is that all you have to say about it?" he further questioned, wondering if she even caught onto the point he was trying to make.

She exhaled deeply again, rolling her eyes, and said, "What do you want me to say about it Thatcher? Do you want me to beg for forgiveness for actually having a job?"

"I have a job as well, you know?" he shouted, his tone much louder and harsh than his wife's. He hated it when Ellis claimed he was unemployed, even though he was at the top of his game, collecting valuable data every day that would change the way that medicine and human genetics would be looked at.

"Oh, yes don't let me forget. You have your little hobby of collecting research," she said through gritted teeth, "I could do that in my sleep Thatcher. I'm talking about a worthwhile profession, not your poxy excuse of an attempt."

He gasped in rage, unable to control what came out of his mouth next, "So you call a worthwhile profession screwing Dr Webber at every chance available?" He took a step back, not sure how he had actually confronted his wife with the information he had picked up on since their first year of marriage. Thatcher was so used to pretending everything was okay with his marriage, for the sake of Meredith, for the sake of his and Ellis' status' and for the sake of not being divorced.

Ellis looked slightly impressed at her husband, wondering that if he had been so forward a few years earlier she perhaps wouldn't have had an affair. He was no way near as much as a man as Richard; he was someone that could soothe her aches and pains with only his voice, and a few more unorthodox methods. She knew Thatcher could never give her the same pleasure as Richard, she had hinted this to him several times but to her dismay he ignored her efforts. Therefore, she congratulated him in a sarcastic tone, "Well done Thatcher. You finally figured it out. Gold star; really, I mean it."

He looked coldly at her, angry at her lack of an attempt to cover up her actions and willingly admitting the harsh truth that had driven an immediate wedge between the two. "So, you're not even sorry?" he whimpered.

"If you were more of a man," she pondered out loud, "maybe I would have some empathy towards you, but let's be honest Thatcher; it's been going on six years. It doesn't take a fool to guess what had been happening, and, unless you smoked way too much pot in the sixties and actually have lost half your brain cells, that means you have been holding back. And I cannot sympathise towards a coward."

Thatcher shrugged his shoulders, pacing between the small gap between the foot of the stairs and the arched entrance to the living room. He was dumbfounded to how his wife – he didn't even know if he wanted to call her that anymore – could be so cold-hearted. He thought about poor Meredith, who, at five, could understand quite a few of the phrases being used by her mother and himself. Although she was tucked away in bed and had been down for at least half an hour, he guessed that his yelling would have most likely woken her up, and worried about her overhearing their argument. He looked over to his wife questionably, asking, "Do you, do you think Meredith's up?"

She rolled her eyes, chuckling slightly, before replying, "Of course she'd be up. It's only half six, and she's five years old. What five year old goes to bed at half six?"

Her husband had to nod at that fact, agreeing with her, "Yes, you're right."

"And even if she was asleep, I'm sure your yelling would've woken her up well enough."

She didn't need to remind him that he had not considered how everything impacted Meredith. He knew they were headed for divorce, and, although he was sure he loved her more, Ellis would surely win custody and banish Thatcher from ever seeing his favourite girl in the whole world. She was a cold bitch in that sense. He tried to make up for this, suggesting, "I should take her over to the Shepherd's. I'm sure they wouldn't mind keeping an eye on her until we figure everything out."

Ellis didn't bother to reply, just shrugging nonchalantly.

Thatcher raced up the steps and turned to face Meredith's door. He considered knocking politely, but he knew this was a wasted scheme, as Meredith would surely attempt to feign being asleep. He couldn't help but hesitate as his hand grasped the handle, wondering the outcome of the fight he would have with Ellis. He pushed the door open to find Meredith laying the wrong way on her pink bed, with her pillow tightly wound around her head. Thatcher's heart sunk at that moment, wanting nothing more than to hold her and assure her that everything would be okay, but he couldn't. He had to divorce Ellis. Now that Richard had been brought up, it had become inevitable, and they both knew it.

"Meredith," he said, hoping that his voice sounded soothing enough to comfort her, "Meredith, honey. It's okay."

"No, it's not," she mumbled, turning away from her father, "You and mommy were fighting and that's not good."

Her words tugged on his heart strings and he smiled lightly at her intelligence and obvious sense of right of wrong. _How ironically unlike her mother she was._ He reached out to pat her on her back, before continuing, "I'm so sorry darling. It, uh, it's going to be okay though. We just thought you might get more sleep over at the Shepherd's because mommy and daddy have lots to discuss tonight."

Meredith let out a simple moan, before allowing her father to pull her off of her bed and carry her out of her room, down the stairs and across the road to the Shepherd house, where he eventually let her stand up on her own. She was standing in no more than her deep blue vest and matching shorts, even though, in April, it was undoubtedly freezing in the open air. He gave her a reassuring smile that he hoped she caught before knocking on the wooden door.

The door creaked open, the occupant uneasy about opening the door, which led Thatcher to guess that it was one of the children answering the door and not their jolly mother or caring father. A tiny male voice questioned, "Mr Grey?"

Thatcher answered almost immediately, "Derek! It's good to see you. Are your parents home?"

Derek opened the door wider for the man and his daughter who were no strangers to their home. He had a concerned look in his deep blue eyes as he looked from Thatcher to Meredith, before giving an answer. "Um, no, not at the moment. Sorry. Nancy's babysitting us though. Is there anything we can help you with?"

Thatcher let out a sigh and shook his head, "No, I was going to ask if you could, uh, perhaps take Meredith for the night. But, uh, no, I mean don't worry about it." He put his hand on Meredith's shoulder and forced her to turn around and started to lead them both down the Shepherd's porch and back to their own home, but the same little voice called out behind them.

"It's no trouble Mr Grey." Thatcher spun round, his eyes full of hope, and Derek continued, "Meredith's a good girl, I mean. I'm sure she wouldn't cause any hassle. Nancy wouldn't mind as well," he explained, before smirking to himself. "She might have to subject herself to a makeover though, and I can't promise anything good."

Thatcher smirked slightly and began to thank Derek, but Meredith interrupted him by running back up the steps and into the Shepherd house. He laughed, and concluded, "Thank you ever so much, and if you have any problems, you have our number, right?"

Derek nodded, closing the door perhaps a little too fast on his neighbour, and then called out to his eldest sister, "Nancy! Meredith's here; you're looking after her."

Nancy Shepherd emerged at the top of the stairs, confused, and declared, "I'm not looking after anyone else. You five are bad enough. Look after her yourself, you idiot." She gave a fake smile to her brother before skipping back to her bedroom, most likely to paint her nails or stare obsessively over a poster of a teenage boy group. Whatever she was doing, he could not understand at all.

Derek found himself whining, "But Mark's only just got back and I want to hang with him, not some five year old." He knew his complaining would fall on empty ears but he couldn't stop from expressing his discontent over the way Thatcher Grey had basically forced Meredith onto them.

He walked into the living room which he saw Meredith run into, and found himself groaning as he heard her infant giggles and Mark's annoyed voice saying, "Who the hell let the baby into my space?" Meredith was sat on the couch next to Mark and was trying to see what he was reading over his shoulder, which Mark was finding aggravating to say the least. Her infant hands were pulling herself up on the sofa until she was taller than Mark, which was a strange site, seeing as she was such a tiny thing, and she began to prod his bony arms. Derek had to try to stifle his laughter at the sight of Mark swatting Meredith away like a fly, and found solace in the new technique that he had acquired to annoy Mark.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here is the update, as promised. I'm sorry that we haven't actually got to the part when Meredith's a sophomore yet; it's only one more update after this and then High School begins. I really hope you guys remember where this is from.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned the show, I wouldn't be so far behind on the tenth season, because… well I'd be the one writing it.**

The carousel, which was centred in the middle of the large gardens, looked immensely inviting to Meredith. The hand painted horses bobbed up and down in steady pace with the cheerful music that played in the background, with their fake hair swishing around in the cool breeze. The urge to run around the circular ride to keep in time with the horses was overbearing, however her mother's tight grasp on her shoulder held her back.

She looked up to her mother, who was in deep conversation with the man that her mother told her to refer to as Uncle Richard and did not seem eager to be disturbed simply to be asked about carousels. In the nine months since her father had left, Ellis had become a lot more caring towards her daughter – perhaps it was due to the increased amount of time that was spent with Uncle Richard – and Meredith found herself not as frightened of her own mommy. Without any other means of distractions, Meredith found herself listening intently to her mother's conversation.

"I just don't understand why you won't leave Adele," she complained, her tone a tad irate. Richard was refusing to look at her when she mentioned his wife's name, especially when they were in such close proximity to Meredith.

His voice was calming as he said, "You know I can't, Ellis. She's my wife."

"And Thatcher was my husband. Your point is?" Ellis stated matter-of-factly.

Richard sighed, "Our other halves are definitely very different from us. But that isn't to say I don't love her. You and Thatcher – well – I'm not convinced you ever did love each other, and your divorce was imminent, regardless of myself."

Ellis had grown aware that the conversation she was having with Richard was not one she intended her six year old to hear, as she was unsure whether her child was able to figure out her true relationship with Richard. Was she as stupid as her father? She shrugged off the thought and reminded herself that Meredith was, after all, only six and Richard and herself had managed to keep their encounters fairly PG so far. She turned to her daughter, who was obviously staring in awe at the now still carousel, and suggested, "You should go on the carousel Meredith. Uncle Richard and I need to talk."

Meredith nodded, her curls bouncing up and down in agreement. She collected the money that Ellis was now thrusting towards her and scurried off so she could have first pick. She looked up at all the other children who were in queue for the carousel; all of them were accompanied by their parents, who were making conversation over what colour horse they would have, and Meredith felt a twinge of jealousy. Even as a six year old, she was able to understand her mother's discomfort around her and on various occasions thought her mother severely wanted for her to disappear, and she wondered what it would be like to have a doting mother and a father who wouldn't run away and never look back.

Looking behind her as she settled on a white horse with a jet black mane, she saw her mother and Uncle Richard in a heated discussion, not focusing on how she looked straddling a horse. She tried to call out, "Mommy!" but Ellis did not even move her head. Meredith saw all the parents' concerned faces as they tried to figure out who she was shouting out, but this didn't restrain her from shouting out again, "Mommy! Look mommy!"

Ellis heard the tiny voice that she recognised as her daughter's, and turned to see her blonde haired daughter sitting on a wooden horse, waving frantically in her direction. She reciprocated the gesture, not really putting too much effort into it, wanting instead to focus on the conversation she was having with Richard. "Meredith! Hold on with both hands. Meredith," she said quickly, hoping to reassure the concerned parents that were giving her dirty looks that she did indeed care about her child.

Meredith yelled out again, "Mommy!"

Ellis didn't notice her this time though; she had already turned back to face Richard and sighed, telling him, "Richard! You would have to tell Adele. I've already publically divorced my husband. She's bound to suspect something. You might as well get it over with."

Richard shrugged slightly, unable to deal with the immense pressure that Ellis was trying to thrust upon him. "I can't do that to her!"

"That's what we decided to do," insisted Ellis, reaching out for his muscular arm.

He didn't welcome her touch, even though he had grown so used to the interaction and wanted to capture her into an embrace when she did so. "I can't…" he stammered, unable to finish his sentence, knowing the impact it would have on Ellis, and he really did not want to get into an argument with her here, just a couple of meters away from her daughter. He tried to turn around to leave, knowing that it was what was best for the two of them, but Ellis' arm reached out again, pulling him back, while she begged.

"Wait, Richard!"

"I can't do that…" he trailed off, his arm loosening out of her grasp, "It would destroy Adele. She would have nothing left. No baby. No family. Nothing," he concluded, feeling insanely guilty for how he had been disrespecting his wife all these years. He finally decided to do the right thing, no matter how much it hurt Ellis. She still had Meredith by her side.

"Please! Please, please…" she pleaded, her eyes welling up and finding herself not caring about the concerned looks that ensued as she collapsed in a big heap.

"No. Ellis, no!" he said, his tone indicating there was no going back on his decision once he had made his mind up.

"Please, Richard. You can't leave me!"

Richard had begun pacing off away from Ellis, his gaze not focusing back on Ellis until he had reached a corner which he followed back to the multi-story car park where he had brought his car as a back-up, in case he did follow through with his plan.

Ellis struggled to keep her person looking sane, and wept with her hands covering every inch of her face, while she whispered, "Please… Richard. Richard," despite the fact that she knew he was far away and unable to hear her sobs.

The carousel had long finished its cycle by this point and Meredith had instantly clambered off her horse and was rushing towards her mother, concern in her voice as she shouted, "Mommy! No! Mommy, please!"

She reached her mother, finding her shaking and hyperventilating. She was unsure of how to proceed, so she wrapped her short arms over her mother's crouched back and rubbed it as delicately as was possible. However, Ellis flinched away at her daughter's touch, her eyes glaring angrily into Meredith's innocent ones, as her face began to spit. She barked, "How dare you touch me, Meredith? What have you done?"

Meredith was confused, and asked timidly, "What did I do mommy?"

Ellis' rage did not subside by Meredith's gentle attentive manner. "_You_," she erupted, "_You_ have sent away the only man I could ever love! _You_ have destroyed my attempt at happiness! _You_ were a mistake!"

**Thanks for reading :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This is the final update before we enter High School. Sorry it's taken so long to set up the story, but it was either this or flashbacks, and I really have no clue how I would have been able to put them into my story. Thanks again for the lovely reviews, they're really encouraging! :)**

**Disclaimer: If I owned the show, I would be living it large in Hollywood and not rainy old England, so it's fair to assume I do not own it.**

Derek sat on the brick wall next to his porch, his sneakers dipping slightly into the thin mud that they hovered above. His mother chided him whenever he did that, complaining about how it ruined the chalky coloured shoes, but it didn't keep him from carrying out his bad habit as he waited for Mark. His expression was as bored as he was feeling, his usually cheery face having turned into a slight frown. If Mark would just hurry up his attempts to flirt with his older sisters, they could get on their way to the cinema, where they had promised to meet Elliot so they could see the latest action thriller.

While he waited, his eyes drifted over to the house across the street from him. The people in that house had become complete strangers over the last few weeks. At one point not long before, Ellis and her daughter had come to dinner at least once every week, seeing as Ellis' schedule left for no time to cook any decent meals for Meredith. His mother, Carolyn, had insisted upon the act of kindness when Ellis initially refused. She was a master in the kitchen and provided feasts any time the Grey's showed up for dinner. However, the previous nights, all Derek could hear on the usually peaceful lane was the voice of Ellis screaming at the top of her lungs, shouting at, who he assumed to be, Meredith for no apparent reason. He had heard the name "Richard" uttered several times by the older woman, and his confusion mixed with the overwhelming need to sleep, caused him to not make much sense of the fight taking place.

He wondered how many minutes he had zoned out for when the sudden jerking open of the Grey front door forced him back into reality. Turning one more time at his own door to check if Mark had somehow appeared, he focused his attention to across the street.

Ellis, gowned in a heavy grey coat, dragged a large suitcase out the door. She looked quite the picture, her hair sticking up in all directions, as if she was in a hurry. Derek couldn't help his brow from furrowing, dumbfounded at Ms Grey as he had been many times before. She was a tough woman to read; her manner with Meredith seemed cold and unwelcoming, yet you could see there was some deep connection between mother and daughter, even if they didn't know it themselves. "Meredith, hurry up," she hollered back into the house, "We're going to miss our flight."

_Flight,_ Derek speculated. He hadn't heard his mother mention anything of the Grey family going on holiday, but he wasn't one to think anything of it.

It wasn't until the six year old came out of the house, dragging her heals along the wooden platform of the porch of the double story house, that he realised something was off. Derek hadn't seen her looking this miserable since her father had first left in the middle of the night after dropping her off at her house. He could remember the night clearly: there was no grand farewell, he just simply walked away.

Meredith let out an exaggerated sigh, visible for Derek sat across the road to see, however her mother took no notice and continued berating Meredith's lack of enthusiasm, "Meredith, stop looking so gloomy. You're going to love it in Boston, trust me. There's the Museum of Science. You're going to learn so much; you're so privileged in this opportunity and you are barely acknowledging it."

He winced in synchronisation with her daughter at the harsh way Ellis tried to comfort her daughter in, with Meredith voicing her opinion in a slight voice, "Why do we have to go mommy? I like it here."

"I'm not going to tell you again," raged Ellis, her face starting to turn a red colour that resembled that of a tomato. "Now get in the car."

There was a moment of hesitation in Meredith's eyes, something Derek couldn't understand at the tender age of nine. She seemed to be staring anxiously at something, her colouring paling to a frightening white. Seeing as her mother was a Doctor, he suspected Ellis to pick up on her ill complexion, but she ignored it completely, gesturing to the cream sedan instead. She opened the trunk and hurriedly placed her suitcase in the hollow area before running back into the house to supposedly go fetch a few more.

Without his realisation, Mark had slipped out of the house and joined Derek on the brick wall, glaring at the scene unfolding just a few metres away. He nudged his friend playfully, jolting him out of his trance and commented lazily, "I could hear Grey from all the way in Nancy's room. What the hell is going on over there?"

Derek shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, not able to explain anything without confusing himself entirely. "They're going on vacation or something but little Grey doesn't want to go," he suggested, before picking up on Mark's remark, "What do you mean you were in Nancy's room?"

Mark replied rather nonchalantly, "Oh, the usual. Talking with your sister," he stopped before grinning, "Trying to get her to go on a date with me; nothing out of the ordinary."

Derek rolled his eyes at his best friend, not sure whether to admire his boldness and future prospect of being a womanizer or to be aggravated that his own sister was his target. He decided to do the latter, acting as the protective brother, albeit a younger one, "Can't you flirt with someone who's our own age and isn't of any relation to me?"

His best friend smirked at Derek's animosity towards his actions regarding Derek's sisters, and playfully joked, "You're only worried because you'll know I'll succeed."

"Na," he shook his head with an equally mocking tone, "I just know that my sisters are going to die of boredom from listening to all the cheesy pick-up lines you come up with. I thought I'd save them the trouble."

Mark laughed whole heartedly, replying, "You're such a great brother Derek. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here trying to steal my status as the ultimate player."

"You're nine, Mark. The only girls who will even speak to you will be the ones that run away shouting 'Cooties' and you know it," Derek retorted, his focus solely on Mark at this point.

"Yeah, well you're," Mark started, pausing to think of a good comeback however failing, "I can't believe it, I've got nothing."

"That's not a first," Derek supplied, enjoying the easy passes that Mark was giving him. He enjoyed having his brother back at his side, constantly making fun of each other in the careless fashion that they always did. If they hadn't grown up sided by side since they were just toddlers, Derek was sure that they would be enemies with each other, clashing over who got the best skateboard, who had the better friend and who got the girl. But the odds had worked in their favour and Derek couldn't even remember why he was apprehensive about the move to Seattle in the first place. Life there was bliss.

Mark, eager to steer the conversation in a different direction, carefully noted, "It looks like the Greys are going on a _long_ vacation," he nodded towards the five other suitcases that Ellis was trying, with a bare amount of success, to fit into the family sized car, "I'll never understand why women have so much luggage."

Derek, however, pondered at the sight and offered, "Maybe they're moving away. That would explain why Meredith wasn't that eager to leave."

"You know, you're probably right. Stop doing that. Be wrong for once," Mark joked, poking Derek lightly in the ribs with his elbow.

He felt a smirk crawl up onto his face, but he tried to act detached and not egotistical, stating, "I'll try." He sighed deeply, running his tiny fingers through his afro-like hair. "I'll miss having them as neighbours."

Mark looked at his brother questionably, "I thought you hated the Greys. Especially Meredith since you had to babysit her whiny little ass almost every weekend."

"Yeah, thanks for the help with that," Derek said, rolling his eyes, "But I've got used to it now. It'll be weird actually being able to do my homework without a six year old screaming in my ear."

"You could actually go out on weekends rather than being cooped up watching cartoons," Mark chuckled slightly at the sight he had walked into just a month ago. Derek, who had on countless occasions tried to prove he was growing up, was watching the animations on the Disney channel as he sat cross legged on the carpet, Meredith's tiny head resting on his arm.

Derek got defensive at the recollection of the day that Mark began calling him DerBear, a nickname which unfortunately had caught on trend in the Shepherd household, "It was one time, Mark. Get over it already."

"Seriously Derek, you expect me to let go of this goldmine? I could have your sisters calling you DerBear all through high school at this rate." By this point, both the boys had lost interest in the house opposite, and had both stood up to get ready to leave. Mark nodded one last time before setting off out the gate, calling to Derek, "Hurry up DerBear; we're going to be late."

Derek took one final glance at the sedan across the road, before checking his laces and running after his best friend, who had somehow already managed to make it halfway down the road in just a matter of seconds. He only saw Meredith's golden locks a brief moment before the car pulled out onto the road and set off in the opposite direction.

**Thanks for reading guys, and I'm thinking about changing the name for this fic, because I really don't like it, but when I decide, I'll tell you. But anyways, have a fab weekend!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: IT'S FINALLY HIGH SCHOOL TIME. I'm sorry if you guys think that it's taken too long to get here, or if I haven't gone into enough depth of Meredith and Derek interaction as children. Let's hope I can make it up when they are older. I realised that I haven't mentioned that I am British, therefore I may accidently use some language that you don't understand. I'm trying not to, but if I do, don't hesitate to tell me. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy. Yet. ;)**

The rattling sound of her alarm clock vibrating against her bedside table caused Meredith's once sleeping body to groan out in displeasure. She considered pulling her duvet covers up even further and burying herself in a cocoon, however the dread that Ellis would come knock on her door and personally get Meredith out of bed made her think otherwise. It was her first day at the new high school after all. She apparently needed to make a good impression, especially since she was excluded from her last school. Boy, did that make Ellis mad.

Relieving the bed of her small weight, Meredith dragged her limp body across to the bathroom, past the vast amount of unpacked boxes, stopping in front of the mirror so that she could check out her appearance. Her once blonde hair had been dyed to take on a light pink colour, a choice that had certainly annoyed Ellis, and it lay untamed on Meredith's shoulders. The heavy black makeup, which was Meredith's preferred look these days, still covered her face after she forgot, or rather couldn't be bothered, to take it off, and Meredith got the slight feeling that she would need a hot shower in order to rid her face of the panda look that she was currently sporting. Of course afterwards she would just reapply the makeup; it was her style.

As she climbed in the shower, Meredith dared to think of how her first day at Seattle Grace High School as a sophomore would turn out. No doubt there would be a high level of intelligent students, due to the Hospital that shared its name with the school, but she hoped in vain that she wouldn't be the only dark and twisty one there. She couldn't deal with being the only one that didn't view life as a bright and shiny prospect again; it was exhausting.

After her unstimulating shower, Meredith quickly dressed in a black tee and jeans, hoping it wouldn't draw too much attention to her, as she knew how seriously some girls would take the first day back at school in terms of fashion. Every hallway would become a runway and every single person would be under scrutiny. That was undoubtedly the part of high school she detested the most.

She slowly made her way down the stairs, the black boots she had thrown on clanking on the wooden steps, announcing her descent to her mother. Meredith didn't even have to look to guess that she was hurrying around the kitchen, preparing a quick breakfast and waiting for her coffee to filter before she could run off to the hospital. It was all she ever woke up to – that is, if her mother hadn't already left.

"Meredith," her mother greeted her, "So you've finally decided to grace us with your presence." A tone of sarcasm was evoked by her comment, as did her remark when she saw what Meredith was wearing, "Don't you look bright and cheerful today?"

Deciding to ignore this, knowing it would lead to an argument, Meredith shuffled over to the fridge, pulling out a leftover slice of spicy chicken pizza, and delving in to the cold yet delicious breakfast.

"You know pizza is not a nutritious start to the day," Ellis sighed, "And please do make sure you take off that ridiculous makeup before you leave the house. It does make you look like quite a tramp. Not the kind of impression you want to make on your first day at your new school, is it?"

Meredith glared at her mother, snarling, "I'll wear what I want. It's none of your business."

"It is if it means I have to find yet another school to enrol you in. It's such an inconvenience."

"Nice to know how highly you think of me," Meredith muttered, half expecting her mother to not hear and walk out, leaving her to enjoy her breakfast in peace.

Ellis, however, did hear, and raised her tone, "You do not know how hard I had to convince your principal that what happened in Boston was a one-time thing. If he sees you traipsing round school looking like you'll cause trouble – which, by the way, he will – he's going to send you packing. Don't you get how having a reckless child such as you seriously damages my reputation?"

Meredith rolled her eyes at her mother's last comment. She should have realised sooner. Her mother only cared about one thing: Ellis Grey. The only reason she wanted Meredith to stay out of havoc was so her precious status didn't get tarnished, and possibly because having to change schools would eat away at the precious time that she could be spending in the OR.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me Meredith," Ellis said at the top of her voice, "Go change now, or I won't be giving you a lift into school."

"I'd rather walk," yelled Meredith as she walked out the kitchen and the house, and slammed the door behind her.

* * *

"Did you hear about the new kid?" Alex asked Cristina as they walked together through the school halls towards their lockers.

Usually, Cristina wouldn't be caught dead hanging round with the likes of Alex Karev, especially alone. Their infamous _love hate_ friendship had been the talk of the school for the past year and walking around with him was not helping. _People might actually think we like each other_, she thought, in deep horror. He was evil spawn, always had been and always would. But today, he had practically stalked her, promising juicy gossip, until she allowed him to walk by her side.

"Yeah, there's hundreds of them Alex, they're called freshmen," Cristina said, before turning to a weak and unsuspecting young boy on her left, cracking her knuckles, "And if any of them dare to even come within five feet, I swear I'm going to punch them."

Alex chuckled, a gesture that made Cristina roll her eyes, and informed her, "No, I meant a new sophomore. Apparently, she got expelled from her last school."

"Sounds like my kind of girl," Cristina said with a smirk, before asking with genuine interest, "What did she do to get expelled?"

"I heard she got caught for doing drugs, but Izzie told me that it was because she was having sex in the school bike shed."

Cristina winced slightly, "You've been talking to Izzie? As in Izzie 'I'm a freaking Barbierina' Stevens?"

"Barbierina?" Alex inquired, before attempting to justify himself, "It was only because I gave her a lift to school."

"It's a cross between a Barbie and ballerina, don't be stupid Karev," she argued, "And you're kind of digging yourself further into this hole. What the hell were you doing driving Izzie Stevens to school? She's not one of us; she's popular, a cheerleader."

Alex tried to calm her down, "Yang, chill. She's a really cool broad when you get to know her. She's not like the others, you know. She's down to earth –"

Cristina interrupted him, her eyes widening as if she had realized something incredible, "You want in her pants." She slapped him on his muscled arm, while he attempted to quash the accusations she had made. "Don't even think about telling me I'm wrong. We both know I'm not. I'm Cristina Yang, for goodness sake."

Alex looked away from Cristina, embarrassed about having to admit that he'd thought about Izzie Stevens in that way. A silence grew between the two before Cristina broke it.

"You really are an ass, evil spawn," she laughed.

Still avoiding her stare, Alex looked round in vain to find anything to distract Cristina from the current topic of conversation. His eyes landed on a girl dressed all in black, her green eyes heavily accentuated by the heavy eyeliner that she had applied. Her hair, on the other hand, was a light shade of pink and completely contrasted with her clothing attire. Not even Yang, the notorious tough girl of Seattle Grace High School, had dressed all in black on the first day back. Maybe she had some competition.

Cristina had also spotted the girl that had captured Alex's attention, and whispered inquiringly, "Do you reckon that's the new girl?"

Alex nodded, his eyes narrowing as he took in her appearance once more, "What do you think?"

Cristina looked ready to pounce, "I think I need to get over there and introduce myself."

**Sorry for the kind of abrupt for the read :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hmm, I don't really like this update too much. I rewrote it a few times, but it doesn't seem right. I really wanted Mer to make some friends on her first day, before I go ahead and introduce Derek, though.**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Grey's Anatomy. :(**

"I think you're going to have a great time at Seattle Grace, Miss Grey," exclaimed the jolly man, who had introduced himself as Mr Clark. On appearance, he seemed way too happy for Meredith's liking; however the brief conversation they had shared insinuated that he was privy to exactly what happened at her last school. She almost wished he would come out and say it, however he exuberated class and dignity, and would definitely think the things she had done were unimaginable. As soon as she sat down, she regretted walking through the office doors to the principal's office. She could have skipped the meeting and lied her way out of the situation, a specialty she had mastered in previous years.

She simply groaned in disgust, a gesture that Mr Clark assumed meant she agreed with him.

He suddenly jumped out of his seat, and walked towards the door, clarifying, "If you have any trouble at all settling in and finding your classes, you can always come and find me. We want you to enjoy a problem free stay at our school." He put extra emphasis on the last sentence, implying that he did not approve of Meredith's latest run in at her last school.

He opened the door, which Meredith immediately stormed out of. She had no idea where her first class was, or what it even was for that matter, but she wanted to get out of Mr Clark's sight as soon as possible. He repulsed her in a way that was all too familiar.

The corridors were full of new and old students alike, some excited about the prospect at high school and others groaning in discontent. She felt their eyes land on her _unusual _appearance, if that was what not dressing to impress was called. Secretly, she lavished in the ability to dumbfound the numerous students, who half expected the new sophomore to be stereotypically meek and nerdy. Or perhaps they had heard various gossip about her and their change in expression showed their realisation when they put two and two together.

"Are you Meredith Grey?" a female voice asked.

Meredith tilted her round slightly to the left in an effortless manner, where she saw a tall blonde girl trying to catch up with the fast pace that Meredith had initiated. She nodded her head slightly, looking at the girl through narrowed eyes.

"Oh, good, I thought I'd never find you. I'm Isobel Stevens, but you can call me Izzie," the girl offered, holding out her hand for Meredith to shake.

Meredith looked at the hand questionably, wanting to shake it so she could get rid of this annoying girl, whom she assumed to be a cheerleader. She instead, raised her eyebrow, and said, "Yeah, no thanks. I'm good."

Izzie took no offence to Meredith's cold shoulder, continuing, "Principal Clark assigned me to be your guide for the first day."

Without almost any pause, Meredith complained, annoyance beginning to take over her mind, "I didn't ask for any study buddy."

"I guessed you wouldn't have," Izzie smirked to herself. "But you're stuck with me for this week, whether you like it or not." When Meredith gave an annoyed grunt for an answer, Izzie pressed on, "I've read your timetable and seen that you've got Chemistry first. Well you're in luck because so do I."

Meredith grumbled, "You're really persistent, you know?"

"Thanks," chirped back Izzie.

"I never said it was a compliment. Take a hint."

Izzie disregarded her plea and bounced along merrily beside Meredith. After they turned the corner, an athletic looking boy and a tough Asian began following the pair. Meredith noticed their presence, and, while confused, noticed that they looked infinitely different from the tall skinny blond dressed in tight jeans and a low top that she was walking with. _They_ were dressed for comfort, in loose jeans and rugged old t-shirts that had probably been worn more than their fair share. Even if it weren't for their clothing, their casual body language suggested they didn't give a fuck about anyone. These were her kind of people.

Izzie recognised the two sophomores trying to gain a better view of the infamous Meredith Grey, and sighed heavily. They obviously wished for her to introduce them, but they weren't in the place to ask Izzie Stevens any favours. Especially since last summer when Cristina had purposefully chosen to play a prank including large buckets of black paint and the cheerleading uniforms. She considered leaving the two in the dark, but their unending hovering around her and Meredith caused her to give up. "Meredith, this is Alex and Cristina," she said, gesturing behind her.

Cristina coughed slightly, bringing Meredith's attention to her over her male counterpart, "I've heard a lot of good things, Meredith."

Meredith raised her eyebrow, and smiled for the first time that morning. "What have you heard?"

"That you were caught having a quickie in a bike shed," Cristina said rather bluntly.

A laugh escaped Meredith's mouth, taking Izzie by surprise. "Meredith," she began with a concerned tone, "I'm not sure if you really want to know Cristina. She's not exactly a nice person." She looked at Cristina with a pitiful look in her eyes.

Turning to face Izzie, Meredith chortled, "Have you made any note about my appearance? Do I look like the kind of person who's happy and cheerful? No. Cristina looks exactly like the kind of person I would like to get to know."

Cristina laughed, taunting Izzie, "Get over it Barbierina, she's picking me."

"Barbierina?" Meredith questioned.

"Cross between Barbie and a ballerina," Alex supplied, coming out of the deep thought he had been preoccupied by.

Meredith pondered for a while, stroking her chin jokingly with her delicate fingers. "That hasn't got a ring to it," she said, "How about McBarbie?"

Cristina widened her eyes, and quickly agreed, "Yes, that's it. That's perfect."

"I'm right here," Izzie stated, although realising neither girl was listening. She sighed with annoyance at the fast and seemingly firm friendship her rival had been able to make with Meredith, but she knew she couldn't really moan too much about it.

Alex chuckled at Izzie's obvious dismay, telling her, "You shouldn't worry too much about it. It's probably something to do with being twisted. There's nothing you can do."

Izzie turned to face Alex, studying his face pensively. "I guess," she said, "What about you? Are you still twisted?" Alex sighed. This was a subject that came up too often with Izzie, and just as frequently, he shot down her hopes of ever opening him up. "I don't want to talk about it at the moment. At least not in front of Yang," he faked a laugh before continuing, "If she knew, I wouldn't hear the end of it." He hoped that was a plausible enough excuse for Izzie to ease up on the subject, but, as he had recently learned, she was sometimes quite unpredictable.

Cristina picked up on her name being mentioned and whipped her head around, glaring at Izzie in the same way Meredith had done moments earlier. "If you're going to bitch about me, I'd rather you say it to my face," she spat. "I'm going to take Grey to the shack."

Without even waiting for a response from Alex or Izzie, Cristina was steering Meredith out of a side door and towards an odd looking, wooden shed. It was surrounded by several students, all of whom seemed irritated at being back at school.

"What is this place?" questioned Meredith, as Cristina walked up to a tall, flame-coloured hair boy and gave him a mighty hug. "I didn't know you were affectionate," smirked Meredith, "Now I'm really sad that you didn't give me any welcoming hug." She feigned sadness and wiped an imaginary tear away from her cheek.

Cristina pulled away from the boy and scowled, "I am not affectionate. Don't ever try to hug me because it will end up with my shoe and your face interacting in a very unfortunate way. This is my boyfriend, Owen." She gestured to the boy, who looked at her with a wide grin on his face.

Meredith beamed at the sight of Cristina getting defensive. She was obviously new to the game; her personality wouldn't have allowed it to be any sooner.

Ignoring the obvious laugh that was threatening to erupt from Meredith's mouth, Cristina offered, "The shack is where us messed up kids hang out. There's a general rule that applies around here: What is said and done here is not repeated elsewhere. Keep to that and you'll become a veteran in no time."

"Thanks," Meredith said, allowing for everything to sink in. She turned to look at Owen and asked him, "So, I know Cristina is twisty because her mom is pressuring her to be a cheerleader, and, let's face it, Cristina is definitely not cheerleader material, but how are you messed up?"

Owen took a deep breath and looked to Cristina, in desperate need of encouragement. She nodded back to him and placed her arm gently around his waist. "My dad got back from the army around two years ago, when I was a sophomore myself," he began, "He was told his services was no longer required."

Meredith nodded slightly, unsure of where his story was going to progress to. Was he expecting her to ask questions, or was the tale of how you became dark and twisty supposed to be a soliloquy.

Owen began again, "He's the kind of man who wants to be in the military until he dies, so this was a real knock back to him. It was even worse though, because he got sent home after this accident that happened where he was transporting some soldiers back to the medical rooms. He had some close friends in that vehicle, and he lost almost all of them. Including my Uncle, who suffered from severe abdominal injuries and sustained a fatal blow to the head."

While listening intently, Meredith could not help but allow her eyes to widen. The language Owen used while describing his Uncle's death only reminded Meredith of her mother, who said those textbook phrases so often in her life, it lost emotion and impact.

"When he got back home, he started having," Owen stopped briefly, thinking about how to put it delicately, "episodes. He would wake up in the middle of the night and not realise what he's doing. My mom wouldn't tell him about these episodes and never has. He'll start punching randomly, and have no idea what he's doing and who he's hurting, whether it's a wall or my mom."

Meredith gasped in horror as the last sentence was uttered by Owen. In comparison to his family life, hers was bliss. "I'm so sorry," was all she managed to muster, and she found herself reaching out a hand to rest on Owen's arm as he started shaking uncontrollably. Cristina offered her support, although she looked slightly awkward in her actions. She was definitely not a comforter, but in times like this, she was forced to.

Meredith looked down to her skinny wrist, and noticed that if she didn't hurry, she would be late for her first class. Although she still didn't care much for the school she had ended up in, she found herself too exhausted to have to deal with Mr Clark again. She managed to mutter her excuses and walk off in search of her first lesson, which, thanks to Izzie, she now knew was Chemistry. In her daze, she bumped into someone's back, and mumbled, "I'm sorry," before dashing off again.

**Thanks for the read**


	8. Chapter 8

"Derek!" shouted the familiar voice as he crossed the quad from the bus stop to where his friends and girlfriend stood.

"Rose," he said much softer than her, slightly mortified by the attention she had evoked. He planted a soft peck on her cheek, before turning around to Mark, who had his arm wrapped around the shoulder of a poor, unsuspecting junior. _Another conquest of Mark's, _he thought to himself, _must be the sixth one in the last week._

"Derek, we're seniors!" Mark chanted, releasing the girl momentarily so he could hug his best friend and his brother.

"I hear you," Derek smirked, "I also heard you all last night and this morning."

"Then why aren't you excited brother?" Mark asked rhetorically. "Only one more year and then we're out of this hell hole, and onto college, where the supply of drunken girls is infinite."

Ignoring the latter comment, Rose said, "Yeah, Derek. This is going to be the start to the rest of our lives."

Derek couldn't help but wince at how clichéd she sounded. He simply grumbled to fake his agreement and the trio began to walk through the school. Mark had left his victim behind, not without scheduling a date though.

"Did you hear about the new sophomore?" Mark asked casually as they reached their lockers.

"No," Derek answered bluntly, yet he had a hint of curiosity in his voice, "Since when have you been interested in sophomores. I thought you lived by the motto: _If she hasn't been driving for over a year, you're not in the clear. _Not that I ever understood it."

Mark laughed, confirming Derek's thoughts, "It still is my motto. But I may have to make an exception. She's," he paused, wondering what word would best describe the mysterious girl, who had already garnered a reputation, "feisty," he concluded.

Rose, being one of the biggest gossip centrals of Seattle Grace High, had already heard about the girl in question. "The word on the grape vine is that she sprayed swears all over her principal's office. That and the rumour about the bike shed."

"I like that rumour," Mark said with a wild grin. He was obviously conjuring up dirty thoughts in his mind, not even trying to cover it up as he groaned slightly.

Rose continued, "I can't remember her name exactly. It's something like Mary or Mandy. I just know I don't want to be getting to know her. She's probably just a wannabe who feels the need to prove herself by doing these ridiculous things."

"It seems to be working in Mark's case. He's almost drooling," pointed out Derek.

"Well he's Mark, he's the manwhore. I'd be much more worried if he wasn't." Derek chuckled at Rose's joke, giving her a half smile. It was moments like these when they were involved in light-hearted humour, that he didn't dislike Rose and her ability to make him want to go hide in a hole. He knew she meant well, but her tendencies nearly always made him cringe. He couldn't remember, for the life of him, why he accepted her date in the first place. He reckoned he was coerced by his teammates on the football team to go out with the cheerleader, but the moment when it had happened was so forgettable, it made him doubt that they would ever last longer than the six months that they had been together.

"Shepherd! Sloan!" a voice roared from across the corridor. Both the boys in question looked up to see Elliot, their long-time friend and fellow football player, coming towards them with an unfamiliar student hanging out a few feet behind him. "It's senior year!"

Mark reached his muscular arm out to Elliot and engaged in the handshake often used between jocks, and shouted in agreement, "We're seniors!"

Derek moaned, "Not you as well. I swear at this rate, my eardrums are going to be bleeding by first period."

Elliot chuckled, "Lighten up, Shep. Get into the spirit."

"Give me one good reason."

"Chicks love it when you get enthusiastic. It makes them get a little enthusiastic themselves," Elliot proclaimed, while simultaneously winking. He noticed Rose getting closer to Derek, trying to make her presence known. "Oh, sorry, Rose."

Rose raised her eyebrow in an unflattering fashion, and said seriously, "Pfft, Derek and I are made for each other, and no little whore is going to get her hands on my man."

Trying to avoid her comment, Derek picked up on the teenage boy standing behind Elliot. "Who's this, then? Not another freshman you're trying to torment."

"No, this one's a sophomore. He's got good talent, though. He's definitely going to make the team this year. His name's, uh, …"

"Jackson Avery," the boy offered, feeling slightly awkward. This was the third time he'd had to tell the quarterback his name, and he had a feeling it wouldn't be the last. If only he could go and join people of his own age, maybe he could do something else than standing like a dog behind his owner. He had heard there was another new sophomore, and, by what he had heard, she was much more talked about than he.

Grabbing his neck and pulling him out of his daze, Elliot chortled, "Oh, yeah!" He began to play fight with Jackson, who was looking increasingly flustered. "Well, my boy Jackson is going to be the future of this team. His throwing arm is almost as good as mine. Sorry, boy, but that's still a compliment. No one's better than Redman."

Jackson tried to shrug out of Elliot's grasp, embarrassed by the antics of the quarterback. Derek noticed his struggle, and commented, "Ease up on the boy, Elliot. Not everyone wants to be sniffing your armpit."

Elliot guffawed, and let of the sophomore, per Derek's wishes. The running of several freshmen around them demonstrated that first lesson was about to begin, with Elliot and Mark groaning in anticipation of the long day that awaited them. With all the rushing around, a girl with rose coloured hair bumped into Derek, almost knocking him down.

He held out a hand to steady the stranger, however she had managed to balance herself, her soft voice muttering, "I'm sorry," before she mustered off, leaving a subtle scent of lavender in her wake.

* * *

Crowded round their regular lunch table in the cafeteria, Derek admitted to Mark, "Someone moved into the old Grey house across the road."

Mark accepted the small talk Derek was trying to make to break the awkward silence. Rose had sat down in a huff, as had April Kepner, and it was fair to assume the usually close-knit friends had had some sort of falling out. As neither of the boys wanted to face their wrath, they just gave each other knowing looks across the table. "I'm glad someone finally did," Mark replied, "I was beginning to think it was going down as a Haunted House given all the cobwebs accumulating everywhere." Mark paused for a moment, as if hesitant, but continued anyway, "Last week I was walking past it and I swear a spider the size of my hand jumped out at me."

Derek chortled with laughter, "Jeez, Mark, sometimes I swear you're such a girl."

"Tell me something I don't know," smirked Elliot as he joined the group. He ignored the frantic attempts made by Mark and Derek to warn him about the high hormonal levels at the table, and looked between April and Rose suspiciously, "What's up with The Virgin and The Bitch."

_That guy has no boundaries, _thought Derek to himself, as he coughed a signal to Elliot to shut up.

"Fine, fine," Elliot surrendered, before questioning, "Where's my boy?" Since first period, he had invented a new nickname for his new lackey, and whenever he passed him in the corridor, he made sure to yell it at the top of his lungs.

"If you mean Jackson, then he's over there," Mark offered, waving in the general direction of the lunch queue.

Elliot noticed the girl with the pink hair in deep conversation with Jackson. "Who's that he's talking to?" he queried. "I mean good for him and all – he might just steal your reputation, Mark – but she looks like she belongs with Yang, not us."

Derek and Mark both crooned their necks to see the girl in question. Derek recognised her unmistakable hair and dark attire from the morning; she had bumped into him and left him thinking about lavenders for the next twenty minutes. Her face, however, took him back even further. He knew her from somewhere, he realised, but he just couldn't pinpoint it. "Does she look familiar?" he asked Mark, hoping the boy he had experienced most of his life with would be able to shed some light.

Mark was still surveying her face and body, trying to do the exact same thing as Derek. "Is that," he began, "Is that Meredith Grey? It can't be…" he trailed off.

"Meredith, that is what it was," said Rose, breaking her silence. "She's the new sophomore I was telling you about."

Derek took another look at Meredith. He couldn't believe that, after all of these years, she was back in Seattle, and at the very same school as he. Despite her distinctive facial features, she was hardly recognisable; her black shirt and pants were a far cry from the floral sundresses he was most used to seeing her in throughout her early childhood. Her heavy makeup also accentuated that she was no longer the innocent young girl, while her body had matured. Her chest was very prominent and her jeans clung to her slim legs. She was definitely hot. Which meant Mark would soon be in action.

"She's hot," Mark stated, as if reading Derek's mind, "I wonder how good her memory is." He winked at Derek.

"You have the ability to make anything sound dirty," Derek argued, hoping Mark would take his mind off Meredith.

Mark grinned lazily, "Did you not hear the rumours earlier? It turns out I'm not the only dirty one here."

Derek rolled his eyes, while Elliot was wriggling about, looking like he had ants in his pants.

"We're avoiding the major problem here," Elliot almost shouted.

"Which is?" Mark asked.

"Currently, this Grey girl and my boy are walking towards Hunt and Yang's table. I cannot have my potential replacement be inducted into the weirdo's gang. Knowing them, they would have a full ceremony and share each other's blood or sacrifice a goat to Satan."

Both Derek and Mark raised an eyebrow at Elliot's panicked state, and watched as he hurried out of his seat and over to where Jackson had now sat down. They looked over in awe as the scene unfolded in front of their eyes.

**A/N: So, I wanted to talk about what happened in this chapter, but didn't want to spoil anything so my author's notes down here. But, if you reading this, you will have seen that it's at the bottom, and this is really unnecessary. Oh, well. I am so sorry for bringing Rose up after all these years, but Derek needed a girlfriend, and I didn't want to bring Addison into this story, so it was between Rose and creating a completely new character. But, you can see he gets irritated at her all the time, even though she technically hasn't done anything bad. The BEST thing, though, is that Derek recognises Meredith now. And the next update has a bit of drama in it. This is getting way too long now. Damn.**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill: I do not own Grey's Anatomy.**

**Oh and thanks for reading, and have a fab day, or night, or whatever...**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So I'm only one day late. So this is a different perspective of the last chapter and beyond. Thanks for all the follows guys, it means a lot.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Grey's, Meredith would have a LOT more screen time than she has had in these latest seasons. Remember when she used to be the sole focus of the show. :(**

Jackson Avery was a nice guy, Meredith decided. He was in a similar position to her: having to fly across the country with a famous surgeon for a parent to attend Seattle Grace High School in their sophomore year. In his case, his mother was Catherine Avery and his grandfather was the notorious Harper Avery, the man behind the award that her very own mother had won. He was coming in from Rhode Island, where his mother owned a small practice, but apparently this had not appeased her as much as hospital work had.

They had almost instantly bonded over their non-existent parents, and they were currently walking towards the cafeteria for lunch.

"So, your father didn't even say goodbye? That's shitty."

Meredith nodded in agreement, and said, "Yeah, he just dumped me at my neighbour's house and never looked back. As soon as I got back the next day, he was gone. I asked my mom about it, but she just said, 'Now that idiot's gone, I can finally breathe.' I had no idea what she was talking about at the time, but then I met 'Uncle Richard' and it all fell into place."

Intrigued by her back story, Jackson couldn't help but stare at her face as she tried to conceal her obvious pain. He hadn't meant for their conversation to get too deep or heavy, but he realised, compared to her, his childhood had been a breeze. He reached for a pudding, claiming a cheap looking chocolate mousse, which would probably taste as bad as it looked.

"Okay, you can't just leave me hanging after all that," Meredith joked, seeing the serious expression plastered across his tanned face. "Can we change the subject to something a bit more light-hearted?"

Jackson let a smile creep up onto his face. "I'm sorry." He stopped and thought about what he could say to change the conversation. "Ah, so I've been 'adopted' by the captain of the football team. He keeps on calling me his 'boy'. I don't know whether I should be flattered or worried."

Meredith laughed at the thought, suggesting, "If you keep it up, you might just become his bitch."

"I don't want to be on the football team that badly," Jackson said, smirking at Meredith as they sat down next to Alex, Cristina and Owen.

"So which one is he?" Meredith questioned, wondering if he looked as much of a jackass as he sounded.

"He's the blonde haired one over there," he said pointing slyly to the corner table. "The one sat between the two girls."

She followed his gaze to the boy, who looked very muscular and angry at something. _A typical jock, _thought Meredith, _surrounded by his typical jock friends. _Though, she had to admit, they did look familiar, and good-looking. Maybe she had seen them somewhere before, perhaps on a social networking site. Jocks like them were constantly posting pictures of their abs online and, somehow, they went viral.

"Ugh, please tell me you're not talking about those assholes," groaned Cristina.

"Aren't you a ball of sunshine?" snickered Jackson.

"Bite me," Cristina retorted, "That is so something my mother would say."

"Mine too," laughed Meredith.

"Jackson!" a loud voice shouted. All five of the teenagers sat at the table turned around and saw the boy they had just been talking about leaning over them.

"Elliot?" Jackson said hesitantly, as confused as the others at his sudden appearance.

"Why aren't you eating with us?" Elliot asked, looking possessive rather than actually hurt, "I saved you a space."

"I'm good here," Jackson muttered, hoping he'd just give up and move along. Apparently, that wasn't Elliot's style.

"Seriously, bro. Just come over and sit with us. We're good company, better than this lot." He looked at the four other occupants of the table with a pitiful look in his eye. Meredith rolled her eyes. If she didn't stand up to this jerk, no-one else would.

"Just fuck off, all right."

He looked slightly shocked, as did the other students at the table. "What have I done?"

Meredith got up to her feet, enraged, "You act like you're so high and mighty. Like you and your jock friends are the only people who have anything interesting to say."

"Did I ask for your opinion?"

"I don't two shits whether you did or not. You need to get it through your thick skull that you're a fucking jackass that thinks he owns the school. Well I've got news for you, prick, you don't. Now take your whiny little ass back to your fucking table before I chop off your nads and make a stew out of them."

"Wow, I'm scared," Elliot said mockingly, feigning fear.

"You better fucking take me seriously. You don't know what it took for me to get expelled, but if you did, you'd be running back home so you could cry to your mommy."

Laughter had erupted throughout the cafeteria and all eyes were on the arguing pair. Elliot refused to be made a laughing stock. "What're you going to do? Sleep with me in a bike shed then leave me. I'm sorry but I'm not a girl. Plus I wouldn't want to go anywhere near you considering all the men."

Meredith's palm had risen without her knowledge, and it connected with his cheek in one swift moment, with the full weight of her tiny body behind it. "You fucking asshole. Don't you ever call me a slut," she spat at him angrily. She was tempted to kick him in the balls while he gathered his senses, but with the eyes of various teachers on her, she decided against. _He'll get it later, _she thought.

"That's my girl," called out Cristina proudly, her hand on her heart.

* * *

Meredith was beginning to like this school. On her first day, she had made more friends than she had garnered in a whole year at her old school. They were just as messed up as her, it was perfect. That was why she had full intentions to grovel to her principal. Whatever it took, she would do it.

For some reason, though, she hadn't been called to the principal's office straight away. They had informed her that she should come back at the end of the day, which made her think she was in a position that needed grovelling. _Maybe they're giving me a full day of school before they kick me out.  
_

Sitting on the bench outside the principal's office, Meredith thought about how she would get out of this one. She couldn't deny that she had slapped him; there was not only a cafeteria full of pupil witnesses but several teachers had seen her assault. _Getting kicked out of school for slapping; they must be petrified of what happened in Boston._ She could tell Mr Clark about how he called her a whore, but that was not something she really wanted to be known as by her principal. It seemed to her that the only way she would succeed in staying at Seattle Grace was by lying through her teeth.

"Meredith," came the annoyingly sweet voice of the school secretary, "Mr Clark's ready to see you now." She hung up the phone that had informed her and went back to typing on her out of date computer.

With a feeling of unease in her stomach, Meredith slowly got herself out of her chair and shuffled towards the closed door. She rapped slowly, waiting for some sort of recognition; however, finding none, she pushed the door open.

"Ah, Miss Grey," the affirmative voice of the principal said, while he gestured silently to the seat in front of him. "I was hoping that I would have to wait at least a few days before I saw you again."

Trying her best to sound sincere, Meredith said, "Principal Clark, I must apologise. I never meant for it to happen."

"Hmm," he contemplated, "You must understand that given your recent history, I am obligated to take into account the welfare of my students."

A silence ensued, neither participant sure of how to progress. Meredith cleared her throat, asking the inevitable question, "So, am I expelled?"

"Miss Grey," Mr Clark sighed, "You see. When I heard about the incident, I had every intention of letting you go; it would have been best for both you and the school. However, between hearing Elliot Redman's version of events and you sitting here in my office right now, I received a testimony from one of your fellow students."

Meredith's brow rose in confusion; only one day and someone had taken a shining to her so much that they had tried to keep her from certain expulsion. And somehow, they had gotten through to the stubborn man that was Mr Clark.

"I can understand your bewilderment. I, myself, was left dumbfounded, since the classmate in question is in fact, as I recall, one of Mr Redman's closest allies in the school." The principal looked at the sophomore sitting in front of him, unable to comprehend why a senior would stick his neck out for the new girl, whom he owed no favours.

"If you don't mind my asking, Principal," Meredith said, eager to learn the identity of her secret knight in shining whatever, "Who exactly are you talking about, and what could they have said to change your mind?"

Looking across his wide desk, Mr Clark saw that, although her harsh exterior would prove otherwise, Meredith Grey was just as curious as the next girl. "From what I've heard, the incident in the cafeteria was completely provoked by Mr Redman; that he was making derogatory remarks towards you. Under those circumstances, even though I cannot condone violence, I can justify it slightly."

Meredith nodded, thinking back to the encounter and how everyone made such a big fuss over such a tiny slap. What he had said had certainly hurt much more than the mighty slap she had given him, that at most would cause a slight sting. Maybe it was the fact that someone had finally stood up to the jackass that was Elliot; he was way too up his own ass for her to even consider not hating him. After all, it seemed his own friends had gotten fed up of his antics. Drifting out of her thought, Meredith clarified, "You're avoiding telling me who told on Elliot, Principal Clark."

"I suppose I am," chuckled Mr Clark. "I doubt you know him, but it was one of the seniors, Derek Shepherd. He's one of our top scoring students, is on the football team and frequently participates in helping the student body."

Meredith's eyes widened in recognition to the name, immediately associating it with one of the boys she had seen earlier at lunch. He had been eating with the other, extremely attractive boy. "By any chance, does Derek Shepherd happen to be best friends with Mark Sloan?"

Mr Clark looked at the girl, seeing her put together puzzle pieces with her mind. "Yes, in fact, he does. May I ask how you know the pair?"

"Ah, I used to be neighbours with them. Both Derek and Mark would babysit me, much to their annoyance. I never expected to see them again after all these years. What are the chances?"

"It's obvious that he remembers you after all this time. It makes me curious, though, regarding the account he gave me of this lunchtime," Mr Clark said, his voice laced with suspicion.

"I can assure you, Principal Clark, that it was only a light slap, which was entirely provoked."

"Whatever the story is, I have decided that expulsion is not the way. Instead, you shall be staying after school today for a detention."

Meredith groaned, "Please don't tell my mom about this, principal, I beg of you. She'd have a fit."

"Make sure you're on time to detention then. It's in the main hall and runs from 3 till 4:30. You are dismissed."

Getting out of her seat, and making her way towards the door, Meredith thought to herself, her first day could have gone worse.

**Okay, so I know it's a huge overreaction to consider expulsion as a punishment for slapping someone, but next update you'll understand why they are a bit aprehensive. Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey guys, so I have been prolonging the time before Meredith and Derek finally meet again. But it's FINALLY here. I am sorry if it isn't as "love at first sight" as you might like, but I since they haven't seen each other in 10 years, and they probably still think of each other as kids, I didn't think it'd quite fit. Rest assured, that will change in the future. Oh, and you also get to learn of Mer's past in Boston, and I must say, I don't condone whatever it is she did.**

**Disclaimer: Seeing as I normally hate gory stuff, I wouldn't have been able to come up with Grey's Anatomy or any of its hardcore, surgery hungry characters without feeling the need to gag every few minutes.**

"Hey, Grey," Cristina Yang shouted as she saw Meredith walk out the main hall, 4:30 on the dot. She wasn't sure why she had decided to wait for Meredith, but she had realised there was nothing better for her to do.

"Cristina?" Meredith asked with uncertainty in her voice, "Why are you here?"

"I thought it'd be more fun hanging with you after your little detention stint than going home to my nagging mother. I also figured you might want some company to vent to about how unfair Principal Clark is or how much of an asshole Elliot Redman is. I can provide very detailed rants on both topics."

Meredith giggled, "Although that does sound extremely tempting, I only think it'd make me want to slap Elliot again, and again. And then Principal Clark would love me so much more."

"I was meaning to ask," Cristina began, a serious expression on her face, "Why did you get an afterschool for slapping that little bitch? It seems a bit extreme."

Meredith sighed, wondering whether the conversation would lead to having to reveal her past, "I was actually facing expulsion charges, so an afterschool isn't too bad."

"What the fuck? Why do they hate you so much?"

"Do you really want to know the whole story?" Meredith questioned, secretly praying that Cristina would leave it be.

"I've got all the time in the world. This better be good."

Drawing in a deep breath, Meredith began the story that seemed so far back, "So, you obviously know I was expelled from my old school." Cristina nodded. "Everyone here assumes it's because of drugs and sex, which, I admit, I was doing quite a lot of back in Boston. It kind of blocked out the pain of the overbearing mother and the judging school students that surrounded me. That's why I like it here so much. Because of the people. You know –"

"Meredith," Cristina interrupted, "You're rambling. Just get to the point."

"Sorry, I do that when I'm nervous." Meredith winced. _Why am I nervous, damn it; it's only Cristina._ "In fact, back at my old school, I had a bit of a reputation. I was known to lash out a lot, and I'd get in a lot of fights. But the school would never pick up on them, or at least turn a blind eye. But then one day, this girl starts taunting me about my father, and says that he was lucky he left.

"I could take it when they were talking shit about me, but I wouldn't allow her to say things about my dad. So I punched her pretty hard. And by pretty hard, I mean I knocked out at least five of her teeth. I didn't mean to punch her that badly; I would usually only leave them with a black eye or a slight bruise, but this time, I guess I really put my weight into it.

"The next day I come into school, and I'm immediately called to the principal's office. It turns out that the girl I had punched was his precious daughter, who would never do anything wrong in his eyes. Therefore, my attack seemed completely unprovoked. Obviously, he kicked me out straight away and left a very bad reference. Most of the schools in Boston rejected my various applications, and Seattle Grace was very wary about taking me in. One of my conditions was that I wouldn't get in any fights; which I kind of broke today."

Cristina looked at loss for words, finding it very difficult to imagine Meredith being rough. She was innocent, or sort of. She had an annoyingly girly giggle that reminded her of the bright and shining Izzie Stevens. "Wow," was all she managed to muster.

"You're not freaked out?" Meredith asked gently, afraid of the rejection she was sure would come next.

"No. It's awesome," Cristina laughed.

"Good," Meredith concluded as the two walked away from the school.

* * *

She hadn't walked down this particular route in over ten years. Not since her father left. The overgrown trees and leaf covered floor seemed vaguely familiar to her, but at the time, she hadn't been looking too much at her surroundings, she had been solely focused on her dad.

Talking with Cristina today about the incident brought back the terrible things Courtney said at her old school, and her omnipresent daddy issues. She wondered how differently life would have been had she not been raised by the monster she occasionally liked to call mother. She could be perfectly normal. She would probably be really preppy and excited about everything, much like Izzie Stevens. Or maybe her father would help her to delve into her studies, and become top of the class and gain a place on the honour role. Both situations made her sick to her stomach.

_I wonder where he is, _Meredith thought, _Oh no, wait, crap. No, I don't. He left me; he doesn't deserve to have me wonder where he is. He's probably halfway across the globe in a mansion with his perfect little family. They'd be jet skiing or doing something ridiculous. Or eating caviar in their hot tub. He's happy. Probably. Damn it, Meredith, you ramble even in your thoughts._

Forcing herself to think of something else, Meredith realised she was coming to where the off-track path joined with her street. Walking to and from school would turn out to be no problem, so she could avoid having to ask her mother for a lift, and avoid an extra twenty minutes of her mother that she really did not want.

She looked at her watch, seeing that it was already 6 o'clock. In a bid to waste time, Cristina and she had walked aimlessly through the suburbs of Seattle, talking about Meredith's expulsion and Cristina's boyfriend. In exchange for all the juicy details of her fights, Meredith requested that Cristina gave her the full story on how she was unable to resist the magical charms of Owen Hunt. Well, Cristina had called that bullshit, but she did give a few specifics to their relationship. It turned out that he was able to handle her constant sarcasm and mocking, and of course was just as dark and twisty as she was.

Making her way up the porch, she passed the spot on the grass where she had learned to walk, the fence that she would hide behind and spy on her neighbours, and the porch swing which she rocked on while watching the heavy rainfall. She had so many memories in this house, and they had never faded, after all these years.

"Shit," muttered Meredith as she scoured her purse impatiently for her keys. She was sure she had picked them up on her way out of the house. _Fuck, _she thought, remembering that in her hurry that morning, she had left them on the kitchen counter.

_What am I going to do now?_ _I could wait outside on the porch in this freezing weather for mom, but knowing her she won't be back anytime soon. Why did she have to make me so angry this morning that I left without my fucking keys? _

Meredith, out of options, decided she could pay a visit to her neighbours, and see whether they still lived in their home. After all, she did need to thank Derek Shepherd for saving her ass.

She walked slightly awkwardly towards the Shepherd's house, wondering how suspicious she would look to any onlookers. They wouldn't recognise her as the sweet little girl from ten years ago; she was the troubled teenager out to wreak havoc.

Rapping lightly on the door, she stood back and breathed deeply. What would the family matriarch, Carolyn Shepherd, say when she saw Meredith Grey's appearance?

The very woman in question opened the door, dressed in a simple black sweater and slacks, looking very demure. "Can I help you, dear?" she asked sweetly.

"Mrs Shepherd?" Meredith said questioningly, "I'm sorry, you probably don't remember me, but I'm, uh, Meredith."

"Meredith Grey?" the older woman asked rhetorically, her eyes widening in recognition. It had been so long since she saw the once innocent looking girl; she had certainly grown up. She instantly pulled the girl into a hug, squeezing all the air out of her lungs. "My, it must have been ten years since I last saw you."

Meredith nodded, feeling the need to explain herself, "My mother and I just moved in two days ago; we would've been over sooner but it's been rather hectic."

"I imagine so. How is Ellis? Still career obsessed?" Carolyn Shepherd had shared Thatcher's opinion that Ellis hadn't cared for her child as much as she should've, and no doubt a move across the country wasn't going to change her antics.

"Unfortunately," Meredith sighed, "But it's not so bad these days. I've learnt to take care of myself."

"You're only a young lady, Meredith. You shouldn't have to do that."

"It's really okay, Mrs Shepherd," Meredith assured her. "But, I have to ask you a favour."

"Anything, my dear," replied the older woman. It was good to know that although her appearance had certainly changed, her good manners and sweet personality hadn't.

"Well, I've sort of locked myself out; Mom's probably not coming back for a while. I was wondering if I could hang round here for a little while until she's back."

Carolyn laughed as she shook her head, "You really don't have to ask darling. I'm sure Amy and Lizzie would love to see you. Derek and Mark, too."

"Have Nancy and Kate gone off to college?" asked Meredith, remembering the older girls who would coo over her in her early childhood, although dreaded the few times they actually had to babysit her.

"Yes, they're both doing pre-med courses. Lizzie is actually starting soon, but she's got a few more weeks left at home." Carolyn answered, sounding a bit sad at the fact all of her babies had grown up, and moving on to begin lives of their own. She pulled Meredith into the old, yet cozy house, and started dusting off the various leaves that had accumulated on her back. She constantly had a proud look on her face, as she mentally thought back to the last time she had done this to Meredith Grey, when she was only six years of age.

There was movement at the top of the stairs, and two figures made it down the stairs. "Mom, who's there?" asked the male voice, that Meredith assumed to be Derek's. _How it has changed from that annoying squeaky voice he used to have._

Carolyn turned to address her son, "It's Meredith Grey, Derek. Did you know she was coming back to Seattle?"

Derek walked down further so his face and body became visible. By his side, Rose descended eager to learn how well this Meredith knew her boyfriend. "I only heard about it at school today," he said nonchalantly.

"And you didn't think to tell me?" Carolyn said, raising her voice in almost anger. "We could've made a welcoming home meal for the Grey's. I could have baked cookies. And the house is a mess."

"Calm down mom," Derek chuckled, before turning to Meredith. "It's good to see you again, Mer." He opened his arms to take her into an embrace just like his mother had when she first arrived. She accepted this, allowing him to push his warm body against her fragile one. Given that his girlfriend was in the same room, she supposed the hug would be rather awkward, and in a sense it was, but not for the reason she thought it would be. She realised how muscly Derek had gotten, and how he now had a musky scent trailing around him instead of the smell of chip and dip that she had become accustomed to in their younger years.

Pulling out, Meredith looked awkwardly around the room, mumbling, "It's good to see you too, DerBear."

Although she hadn't meant for him to hear, he did, and he said outraged, "Does everyone insist on calling me DerBear?"

Carolyn snickered to herself. Although she knew she shouldn't enjoy her son's embarrassment at his ten year old nickname, she couldn't help but be amused about how it had stuck so long. "Suck it up son. It's there for life."

Derek rolled his eyes at his mother.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs Shepherd," Rose said innocently, "I need to steal Derek away for a few minutes upstairs." She had the impression that if she didn't drag Derek away soon, he would get caught up in reminiscing with Meredith Grey for God knows how long. As if she didn't already feel threatened by her. She saw how Derek's face lit up earlier in the canteen after hearing her name, and given his distant nature in the past few months, Rose couldn't help but feel as if their break up was imminent.

"Of course, Rose," Carolyn said politely. She watched Rose encourage Derek back up the stairs, and waited for a few moments until she knew they were out of earshot. "That girl really does annoy me sometimes."

Confused, Meredith asked, "What has she done? She seems nice enough?"

"Oh, Mer. You caught her on one of her good days. Sometimes I can hear her incessant moaning from all the way in the garden," Carolyn said, sighing deeply. "I know I should try to accept her for Derek's sake, but she's making it pretty damn hard."

Meredith chuckled slightly, "Mrs Shepherd, if you're anything like I used to remember, you haven't a bad thing to say about anyone. Can she truly be that bad?"

"You haven't seen anything," Carolyn groaned, before lightening her tone, "I don't suppose you'd like to stay for dinner?"

Meredith's reply was instant. "I'd love to."

**So, you know what's coming in the next update. LOTS of reconnecting. Yaay :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Ok, so I had some trouble writing this one. For some reason, I have real difficulty writing conversations between three or more people, because I always forget about half the characters. I also realised that it's still only the first day of Mer's sophomore high school life. I didn't mean to spend so long on that day, so in the next update, I will probably jump quite a few weeks, because otherwise I will have nothing more to write. Also, a massive thanks to all the lovely reviewers and followers, I'm so flattered you like it. ^_^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's or any of the characters. :(**

Rose lay down on Derek's floor, frustrated that both Mrs Shepherd and Meredith Grey were downstairs in a house which was not very soundproof. She supposed all the houses around here were built like that, where every movement could be heard in each nook and cranny. It was causing her to moan in anger that she couldn't do what she wanted with Derek at that very moment; sex would take his mind off Meredith Grey and onto her.

Derek was sitting on his bed, leaning on the wall behind, sorting through his various albums of The Clash, and hoping he could find the one song he was looking for. It was bugging him that he couldn't find the track listing for 'Clampdown' anywhere, even though he was sure he had scoured the listing of every single album. He finally found it, and opened his CD player to put in the disc, looking forward to some much needed relaxation after having listened to Rose babble on for the last half an hour.

"Derek, honey, you know how old that music is? Like thirty years old," Rose whined, covering her ears in a melodramatic gesture.

Derek rolled his eyes, explaining, "That doesn't make it any worse. It's better than the shit you listen to sometimes. I mean, Justin Bieber, seriously Rose?"

"Did you just call Justin Bieber shit?" yelled Rose.

"Well, technically, I implied it," murmured Derek, surprised by her defensive reaction. "If you don't imply The Clash is shit, then I'll call a truce."

"Hmmph," moaned Rose not wanting to push her luck, but not wanting to let herself be defeated. It seemed nowadays all they did was clash over their various tastes, with Derek implying hers were inferior to hers.

The first lines of the song began to play:

_Hey, hey!  
Ooh!  
The kingdom is ransacked  
The jewels all taken back  
And the chopper descends  
They're hidden in the back  
With a message on a half-baked tape  
With the spool going round  
Saying I'm back here in this place  
And I could cry  
And there's smoke you could click on_

Rose opened her mouth to complain, but was interrupted by the loud calling of Derek's mother up the stairs.

"Derek, Rose, it's dinner time."

They tumbled down the stairs, with Derek hurrying ahead, in order to help his mother bring the plates through. When he walked into the dining room, he was pleasantly surprised to see a grand feast prepared laid out on the table. Walking through the door connecting the kitchen and dining room was Meredith, followed by his youngest sister, Amelia, and his mother, all of whom were laughing in unison.

"Was that The Clash you were playing upstairs?" Meredith asked. Derek nodded, surprised that she recognised them. "That's one of my favourite songs."

Noticing the confused look on her brother's face, Amelia spoke up, "Meredith's staying for dinner so we can catch up. Mom whipped up lasagne with roast potatoes and parsnips, God knows how."

Carolyn gathered at the head of the table, Amelia joining her on her left while Meredith took the seat to her right. Unwillingly, Rose separated from Derek, sitting next to Meredith in hope of acting as a buffer, not knowing whether she should be afraid.

"This all looks gorgeous, Mrs Shepherd," exclaimed Meredith, taking in the view in front of her. As a result of her own experience, she had assumed no one still managed to have family meals every day, but the Shepherds were living proof against that. "Shouldn't we wait for Mr Shepherd?"

Carolyn chuckled, "He's working late at his shop up town. You can't tear him away from that place nowadays. Afterwards he's off to pick up Lizzie from one of her friends' house."

"Sometimes I think he loves that damn place more than us," groaned Amelia.

"Amy! Language, please," corrected her mother.

"What, you let Derek swear all the time."

"I most definitely do not."

"Amy, are you insinuating that I have a foul mouth," Derek said, feigning hurt. Meredith chuckled at him, and he instantly turned at the sound of her laugh. It was so light and incredibly inviting. He could listen to it all day, if it wasn't incredibly creepy and inappropriate.

Amelia rolled her eyes, turning to Meredith and asking, "So, what is it like living in Boston?"

Raising her eyebrow, Meredith began, "Well, it was all right I guess. I don't think I really fit in there too well, but my mom seemed to like it. We lived in this little cul-de-sac about ten minutes from the hospital. We had nice neighbours, though. They would babysit me like you guys did, although I cannot say any of them were able to bear any of those awful cartoons I watched like you did Derek." Meredith smiled at the thought of Derek engrossed by Peppa Pig.

"Hey," Derek protested, smiling back at her, "I only watched them with you because you wouldn't leave me alone otherwise."

"Sure Derek," muttered Meredith sarcastically, winking at Amelia.

"Why didn't you watch cartoons with me DerBear?" Amelia whined, acting betrayed.

"That may be because of the constantly smelly diaper you wore. I don't think anyone could stay in the same room as that thing for more than fifteen minutes."

"It wasn't that bad," Amelia huffed. "Tell him, mom."

"I have no comment," mumbled Carolyn as Derek and Meredith erupted into laughter. Rose felt incredibly awkward sitting at the table, having not input anything into the conversation. It wasn't as if she had any opportunity though; she wasn't around for the situations they were reminiscing about, something that made her feel very obsolete.

Amelia diverted back to Meredith, "Did you ever go to Fenway Park?"

"I went a couple of times," Meredith said. "My best friend in Boston was a massive Red Sox fan, but I wasn't really that into sports. They did pretty good hot dogs though. I must have eaten about twenty in one go at one of the games."

"A tiny thing like you," commented Carolyn, "I highly doubt that."

"You would be surprised how much I can eat," said Meredith with a wink.

"You're full of surprises Meredith," came the reply. "Now, let's eat."

* * *

"Where have you been?" yelled Ellis as Meredith walked through the doors. She had spent several hours at the Shepherd house, much longer than she had originally intended. Carolyn had just kept on bringing out the distractions: dessert, tea and seemingly millions of photo albums of the Shepherd children.

"I went to see the Shepherds."

"And you didn't think to leave a note? I was worried."

"Worried, really?" Meredith snorted, "I didn't think you'd realise since you never notice me when I'm here anywhere."

"What's gotten into you Meredith?" questioned Ellis, slightly concerned by her daughter's outspokenness.

"I'm fed up of going over to the Shepherds and seeing how perfect their family is, and then having to come home to a robot." Meredith was getting defensive towards her mother for the first time about something apart from school, feeling like she needed to drain all of her pent up emotions towards her mother at that very second. "I'm fed up of having a fucking broken family because my mother was a whore."

"Meredith Emily Grey, I will not stand here and allow you call me such things," bellowed Ellis. "Fine, I made a mistake, and it was a rotten one, but you would have done the same thing if you were in my situation."

"I would never do what you did Ellis," Meredith said, lowering her voice, "Because you are a cold hearted bitch."

"Go up to your room right now, young lady," scolded Ellis. "If you think I'm a cold hearted bitch, then I might as well start acting like one. Firstly, you are grounded for a month. Secondly, I am confiscating your so called 'makeup'. And finally, if you think you have any chance of getting me to pay for your college fees, you are very much mistaken. We'll see how much fun you have when you have to work every single hour that is not occupied by classes in order to support yourself."

Meredith's face grew red with anger. She looked at her mother one last time, and spat, "I hate you," before marching up to her room and locking the door. Her last thought before sleep came to her was, _I'm screwed._

**Thanks for reading, have a great weekend guys!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I'm so sorry for the lateness. Busy week and no time to update. :( Okay, I'll admit I was also a bit stumped on how to write this chapter, but it's finally here, and it's setting up the next chapter, which I am VERY excited about writing.**

**Disclaimer: McEverything does not equal Shonda Rhimes because I do not own Grey's Anatomy.**

Meredith lay on her crisp, plain white sheets, willing for the time when she could go to sleep – and not seem like an absolute loser – to come quicker. Not even two weeks into her sentence, she was bored out of her mind, reading the only book she could find without ransacking all of the boxes that were still yet to be unpacked. She hadn't been able to hang out with Cristina since her confession, and was missing Alex and Jackson sorely. The lack of human contact outside of school was driving her nuts. _At this point, I'd even be willing to hang out with bloody Izzie Stevens._

Meredith glanced over to the clock on her bedside table, seeing it read 20:00. It was eight pm on a Saturday night; a night typically devoted for going out with your friends, getting stinking drunk and breaking every single underage law. Yet, here she was - all of the homework she had managed to accumulate over her first two weeks done - reading a very ancient version of Gray's Anatomy.

After her run in with Ellis, both had avoided each other. _Like mother, like daughter, _thought Meredith. It wasn't like the other times she had been grounded by her mother back in Boston; she was actually taking the time to enforce her new rules. Every night, before she left for her shifts, Ellis would check Meredith was in her room, alerted the neighbours that the teenager should, under no circumstance, leave the property, and would call her on bi-hourly basis. It was frustrating to say the least. Ellis actually began to act like a normal parent. It was too late, though. Meredith had already learnt how to take care of herself.

Apart from her fury at her mother, Meredith seemed to be settling in to school well. She had become a well-established member of the "Freak" group, much to the annoyance of Izzie, who still tried to convince her to become her friend. _If she's got one thing going for her, it's her persistence. _She had learned that Izzie was a good friend of Derek's girlfriend, Rose. The one who constantly gave her dirty looks whenever they passed in the corridor, as if she was afraid Meredith could steal the reputation that she had been building up over four years of high school overnight. If she needed any more reasons to not want to be Izzie's friends, it was due to the girl constantly giving Meredith sour looks and snarky comments.

On the other hand, Derek and the rest of the Shepherds were extremely kind to Meredith, although she hadn't seen much of any of them apart from Derek and Amelia when she saw them at school. Whenever she saw them in the corridors, they would give her a friendly smile and say hi, much to the confusion of their peers. _Why would a jock and a timid freshman be talking to a freak?_

Meredith felt a vibration in her lap and, tossing her book to the side, reached down to grab her phone, which was illuminated by the arrival of a text message.

**Cristina: **Hey bitch, what's up?

Meredith chuckled at the unflattering photo she had taken of Cristina without her knowing and set as her contact image. She immediately sent a text back, welcoming the distraction.

**Meredith: **I'm bored out of my mind over here!

**Cristina: **How do you feel about sneaking out for a bit of fun?

**Meredith: **You know I wish I could, but my mom's got me on lockdown. :(

**Cristina: **What she doesn't know can't harm her. ;)

**Meredith: **If I can pass the nosy neighbours then count me in. What are we doing?

**Cristina: **There's a massive party at Percy's, and I've yet to see you down these shots of Tequila.

**Meredith: **Likewise. Okay, I'll be there.

**Cristina: **Owen and I'll pick you up in thirty minutes from the convenience store at the end of your street. Wear something hot.

**Meredith: **Sounds great. :P

Slapping her phone straight down on her bed, Meredith jumped up from her position, and scurried over to her closet. She had no time to shower, considering she had to successfully sneak out and make the trek down the road as well. Fishing out her favourite pair of denim jeans and a navy camisole top, she wondered about where on earth her mother had hidden her makeup. She pulled the top over her head and stepped into the pants, checking herself out in her mirror, deciding she looked decent enough. Maybe not what Cristina had suggested, but she didn't want to gather any more attention than she had been getting lately.

It had been way too long, in her opinion, for her to go without even a sip of Tequila. She hated living in Boston, but the only thing that she admired about the city was the vast amount of house parties held, all of which included huge volumes of Tequila. She was a master at drinking Tequila. On one particular night, she downed a whole bottle in twenty minutes and woke up the morning after feeling fresh and ready to go. Tequila also made her wilder in her attempts to hook up with people. With a little liquor in her system, she almost always succeeded in her quests.

She shook her head to stop reminiscing about Tequila and men, before jogging into her mother's room, and looking under every nook and cranny. The walls were bare, and a stark white colour, causing Meredith to involuntarily shiver of how it reminded her of a hospital. She had been in way too many of them growing up, and she wouldn't want to go back anytime soon. She eventually found her makeup bag hiding behind an opened box, filled with letters.

Curious, Meredith shuffled through the envelopes addressed mainly to her mother. _Maybe she's keeping her fan mail, _thought Meredith, although Ellis seemed to be a woman of very little sentiment. She was almost going to pass them off as important legal documents, or financial statements, before she saw an envelope with her name written on the address line.

_Miss. M. E. Grey_

Why hadn't she ever received this envelope before? It had her name on it, yet it lay there, unopened, gathering dust. The date on the letter also struck her as odd.

_24th April 2004_

That was the year when her mother forced her to leave Seattle with her, taking her all the way over to the East Coast, and causing her to lose contact with everyone she knew. She was only six years old at the time. _Who sends mail to six year old kids?_

She ripped open the letter, deciding she should have a right to see what the letter was about. It should probably be nothing; it should be an annoying ad asking her to join dance lessons at your local community theatre. It should have been nothing because then she could move on and let go of the hope that it was actually from her father: the man who abandoned her with no explanation and made no effort to contact her. But she knew. From the handwriting on the envelope, she knew. From the way it was slightly stained by coffee on one of its edges, she knew. And from how her mother had never given her this letter, she knew.

She unfolded the paper, taking a deep breath. She began reading, unsure of what would come next.

_Dear Meredith, _

_I'm not even sure if your mother will give this to you, but, in the hope she does, I pray that you will forgive me for the horrible things I have done to you. _

_You're probably mad as hell at me for leaving you so abruptly, but you don't understand – and maybe you never will – I had to get away from your mother. She constantly undermined me in my work and with her friendship with Richard (I don't know at what age you're reading this, so you may not understand), and although I tried to make it work, I couldn't put up with her anymore. I know that is incredibly selfish of me, and if I could go back in time and change it, I would do everything so much differently. I would've stayed for you, Mer, please don't forget that._

_You see, I wanted to stay in your life. I really did. I tried my hardest to get custody of you after I left, but the judge sided with your mother. She said some awful things about me in the courtroom to make sure I didn't even get joint custody. I won't go into detail, but the judge permitted me to monthly visits only. Knowing your mother, she's forbidden me from those as well. I've been alerted by her, though, that she's taking you to Boston for her new job. I really wish I could follow you there and keep on trying to make her let me see you, but I simply can't. I have a job here, and a new wife, and I can't just move them all across the country just for your mother to reject us again. You know if I could, I would though._

_I don't mean to make you hate your mother; I'm sure she has changed since my departure and has finally taken to being a compassionate and present mother. It's just; she and I were never meant to work out. I hope you understand. When you're older though, sweetie, maybe you can come and see us for the odd day or two because it would really mean the world for me. Please don't hate me. I'll never forget you._

_Love_

_Dad_

When she reached the end of the letter, Meredith's breathing began to escalate. Her father really did love her; he didn't just abandon her and forget about her existence. He tried. He failed, but still, he tried. At this moment, she hated her mother more than ever. She had kept this from her. She allowed Meredith to grow up thinking her father didn't love her and she was better off without him. She had kept Meredith, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to give her the same unconditional love that her father had always given her. Ellis Grey truly was the definition of the word, 'bitch'.

Forcing the tears to stay in her eyes, Meredith slowed her breathing, and carried herself back out of the room, the letter still held tightly in her hand. She applied the eyeliner and walked straight out of the house, down the road to where Owen's pickup was parked. She slid in, not saying a word to Cristina or Owen, who had taken one look at her and saw she was broken. Even more broken than she already was, if that was even possible. Owen promptly turned the ignition key and drove off to Percy's house where the rager was to take place.

**I can't remember who it was, but someone said in a review that they thought Meredith would've been better raised by her father and step-mother, and I really do agree with that because Thatcher would've made her his world and treated her amazingly. Anyway, hope you're not too annoyed at my lateness, and I promise I won't be late this Wednesday. Bye!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I can't even begin to apologise for not updating even though I promised. I blame the revision. Even when we're on holiday, we're expected to have our noses in our books 24/7. I think it's safe to say that my updating will probably be a bit irregular for a while, but I'll try to do them when I have a bit of free time. I also just want to thank you for the reviews, follows and favourites; I can't believe how unbelievably sweet you guys are. :)**

**Disclaimer: The only character that I did create in this story is Elliot. He's a bit of a jerk though and likes to cause chaos, so I'm not sure whether I should hate my own creation.**

Derek couldn't believe he allowed himself to be talked into this. This was a sophomore party. While Elliot scoured the room for girls who might be idiotic enough to accept one of his many offers, he and Mark were standing very awkwardly by the alcohol table. Teenagers were drunkenly dancing and participating in tonsil tennis left and right, leaving an almost sober Derek feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"This is why I have my rules," explained Mark as he gestured to a girl who looked about twelve taking shots of Vodka while simultaneously grinding against a boy.

Derek guffawed, "This might be one of the only times I will agree with you over your stupid rules." He looked at the stereo, which was blasting out One Direction. "I mean, this is the kind of stuff Rose listens to. How does this appeal to Elliot?"

"The chicks dig this shit?" Mark questioned, his voice dripping with disgust and curiosity.

"Apparently they do."

"I don't see the attraction," Mark said as he reached for the lid opener. He handed a beer to Derek, while nodding to the direction of the door. "Although, Elliot might be interested in a rematch with Grey after their little canteen clash."

Derek turned his head around to see Meredith enter the room, followed by Cristina and Owen. He had to restrain a gasp that was threatening to escape his mouth. She looked beautiful. Effortlessly beautiful, even. She had toned down the eyeliner considerably since the first day at school, and had a deep purple lipstick on to give her that extra edge. _How I would love to be covered in purple lipstick, _Derek thought. He mentally slapped himself though, having to remind himself of his girlfriend that may or may not come to the very same party later.

He couldn't take his eyes off her, and soon she caught his gaze, giving him a quick smile. She also began walking in their direction, disregarding Owen and Cristina, who had, very promptly, walked over to the speakers and changed the music to something more suited to their taste.

"I see you couldn't stay away from us Grey," Mark said with fake pride. "Not that I blame you for not being able to resist the great Mark Sloan."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that," retorted Meredith. She gestured to the alcohol in front of them. "Is this how you're planning on picking up all the chicks tonight? By hassling them when they come to get a drink."

Mark chuckled, "If only they were up to my standards."

"And what are your standards?" Meredith questioned, her eyebrows raised.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," said Derek, trying to telepathically tell Mark to shut the hell up.

Mark, however, took no notice of the death glare he was receiving from Derek and insinuated, "I'm sure you'd be up to it." As soon as Mark winked, Meredith burst out into a fit of giggles. Derek rolled his eyes, nudging Mark slightly. Sighing, he turned to Derek and said, "What's your problem?"

"Nothing. No, nothing's my problem."

Meredith took no attention of the two boys who were giving each other questionable looks. She began to pour herself some shots, lining them up so she could take them as quickly as possible. As she had walked through the doors, she had put on a brave face, but she didn't know how long it would last. Truth be told, she wasn't recovered from finding the letter, but there was no way she was discussing it with anyone until she digested the news herself.

When she had poured the fourth shot, she looked at them with delight. The boys had also stopped their bickering and saw her prepare to take her shots. Derek smirked, "Tequila. Someone's going to be sorry in the morning."

"I'm always sorry in the morning."

Derek looked at her with confusion, wondering what she meant by that remark. She seemed happy enough when she came in, but after living alone with her mother for the past ten years, he guessed she may have picked up some tricks on how to fake happiness.

She took the first shot, wincing ever so slightly as the liquid burned its path down her throat. She turned the glass over before continuing with the next one. And the next one. And the one after. By the time she had finished her fourth shot in less than two minutes, Mark and Derek's jaws were hanging open in admiration and shock.

"I have never seen a girl handle her liquor as well as you," Mark said, patting her on the back.

"You pick up these kinds of things when you're constantly trying to aggravate your mother," Meredith shrugged. She felt livelier now. The alcohol was already beginning to take effect, and she felt the need to dance. "Either of you want to join me dancing?"

"I don't dance," Derek admitted. At the last Homecoming he had tried to dance, but it ended up with everyone thinking he was taking the piss and doing it ironically. He vowed never again.

"Aw, come on Derek," Meredith said, pulling on the sleeve of his leather jacket.

"You do not want to see Shep when he's attempting to dance. At least, you want to be sober when he does," Mark chuckled, earning a shove in the ribs.

"You'll dance with me, won't you Mark?"

Mark nodded, and proceeded to follow Meredith into the middle of the room where a few other people had gathered to dance. Derek admired the way Meredith looked so natural when she danced, her hips swaying to the Artic Monkeys song, and laughed when she refused Mark on several occasions.

Elliot reappeared out of nowhere, and came up to Derek. "I've been with this girl all night, but now she tells me she's got a boyfriend."

"That's never stopped you before," Derek said. He couldn't understand how he made friends with the two boys who were constant manwhores, neither committing to a relationship longer than a week. They were complete opposites of Derek; he loved being in relationships.

"And it wouldn't have. But apparently that would stop her, and I don't want to be accused of rape," Elliot said frustration evident in his voice. "Where's Mark?"

Derek nodded in the direction of Meredith and Mark in the middle of the room, adding, "They were trying to get me to dance, but we all know how well that would go."

"I'll never forget." He looked between Meredith, Mark and Derek. "So, how do you know each other again?"

"She used to live opposite me for about five years. Our families were quite close, I guess. Her father was nice but her mother was something else. I had to babysit her a few times, and we had a good laugh. She moved away with her mother about a year after her father left her though."

"Got any embarrassing stories?" Elliot asked. "I need something good to bring her down after last time."

"I'm being impartial here."

"Come on man, help me take down the bitch."

"She's not a bitch," Derek said defensively.

Elliot furrowed his brow. "I thought we were mates."

"Don't start whining like a bitch about it Elliot," Derek teased.

"I don't understand why not," Elliot said. He got himself a beer and began to swig. He almost choked and spat out his beer upon realising something, "You like her, don't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Derek said a little too quickly.

"Shep, it's a bit obvious."

"No, nothing's obvious. I have a girlfriend, may I remind you."

"Yeah, and she's completely annoying and spoilt," Elliot said like he had on many occasions before.

"No she's not," Derek said rather protectively. He and Rose were good; well good enough. There was no reason for anyone to suspect anything was wrong in their relationship, at least, he hoped not.

"And now you're second guessing your relationship."

"Who's second guessing their relationship?" Meredith asked coming back from where she left Mark to dance with two girls.

"None of your business," Elliot said irritatingly. "Ugh, if I knew you were going to be here tonight, I never would have come."

Meredith shrugged her shoulders and said, "Well I'll just get a beer and leave you then. I know where I'm not wanted."

Derek butted in, "No, Mer. You don't have to. Elliot's just being a jerk as usual."

"Shepherd," Elliot whined, his face conveying the message that he was deeply betrayed by Derek not backing him up. "If anyone's a jerk here, it's her. Or you by the sounds of it."

Meredith raised her eyebrows once more, and Derek noticed she did this a lot. He supposed she was used to this kind of thing; getting into petty arguments with people, although from what he had seen in the previous two weeks, she was nothing other than a sweet, young girl. In his opinion, nothing had changed from when they first met. When she clambered onto his lap and whispered in the sweetest, most angelic tone he had the good fortune in hearing. It was almost difficult to imagine her as a mature woman, if he wasn't there to witness it first-hand.

"Hey, Elliot, she's not a jerk man. Lay off her."

Elliot looked at Derek in horror. "You cannot be serious, Shep!"

"What?"

"You cannot believe that anyone would actually want to hang around me, is that it?" Meredith interrogated, her raised voice causing others in the room to look over in their direction. "I'm the weird freak, am I right? Just because I dress a little differently and don't act like I've got a fucking stick up my ass, you can't believe people would actually socialise with me?"

"Mer," Derek said, trying to reach out to her to put an end to the sparring that was taking place between her and Elliot, knowing neither would back down until the other had been completely broken. Or slapped, as was proven a fortnight ago.

"No, Derek," came the reply. "I'm not going to let this little shithead try to screw with my head and tell me and who I cannot speak to."

"Please guys just let it go," Derek pleaded, without success as his request was muted by Elliot's next insult.

"I can tell you one person you can't speak to," Elliot blared. Meredith stilled for a moment, unsure of what he was talking about as Elliot held on his face a look of victory.

"And who might that be?"

"First, let me contemplate a few things regarding yourself," Elliot began in a mocking tone. "You think you're the hardest shit to walk the Earth," he cried out. "You put on your deadly gothic makeup and act like it's going to solve all your problems, as if suddenly it makes you so superior to us shallow, ignorant people. Well, I'll tell you the truth Meredith Grey. It actually makes _you _the petulant child, acting out for attention. Which apparently you don't get enough at home, so you feel needs to be carried around everywhere you go. And thus leads me to answer your question. If you had been so special and goddamn fucking amazing, why did your precious little daddy walk out on you?"

Derek gasped, as did most of the people who had eavesdropped on the brawl that was taking place. He sent a disgusted look in Elliot's direction before turning to Meredith, who looked frozen in time, unable to move even a millimetre. Elliot had gone too far this time; he made it too personal. He hadn't been around Meredith long enough to know how she would react, but considering he was a considerably level headed person and wanted to punch Elliot in the face, he was sure she would be vexing.

"Mer," he coaxed gently, hoping for some kind of response but failing miserably.

"Looks like she can't handle –" Elliot snorted before being interrupted by Derek, whose rage was obviously present in the harsh tone of his voice.

"Elliot just shut the fuck up and get out of here before I smash your face in."

Elliot groaned, but saw the disgruntled looks thrown at him by both Mark and Derek and quickly stormed out of the house.

"Mer," Derek tried again, unafraid that Meredith would crumble right before his very eyes. "Please say something." He looked at Mark, who had taken the spot on the other side of Meredith and was sharing the same look of concern that Derek was holding, and asked, "Do you know where Yang is? She might want to speak to her."

"Last I saw her; she was outside, high as a kite. I don't think she's exactly in the right frame of mind to deal with this kind of thing." Mark said with a light chuckle, hoping to soften the mood, albeit failing.

After a minute of silence, with both Mark and Derek unsure of what to do to help Meredith, she eventually began to fidget with her wrist. Gazing around her and seeing everyone in the room staring at her, she looked like a deer lost in the headlights.

She mumbled faintly, "I need to go," and rushed out of the front door.

**Thanks for reading guys and I hope it's not too long before there's another update out! Byee**


	14. Chapter 14

"So, I was thinking we could go shopping this weekend to look for dresses for Homecoming," Izzie Stevens beamed as she jogged beside Meredith.

Meredith stared back, trying to maintain an air of indifference, however inquisitive to why Izzie had decided that dress shopping and Meredith went hand in hand. If there was one thing Meredith did not want to do at the current moment, it was even thinking about the exaggerated event that condoned the division between Jocks and Nerds and Freaks and all those in between. Boycotting the event was what she had in mind; however Izzie seemed like she couldn't comprehend anyone thinking of missing out on such an occasion.

Since Saturday, when Izzie was practically the only person she was able to identify outside of Percy's house that wasn't intoxicated and she had accepted her offer for a ride, Meredith and Izzie had become friends, although in Izzie's eyes, they were much closer than Meredith thought. Maybe it was due to the conversation that had taken place in the car.

* * *

_"Where do you live Mer?" Izzie asked a little too excitedly._

_"613 Harper Lane," she said, unwilling to fight the fact that Izzie had used her nickname._

_A silence erupted in the car. Izzie turned on the radio and began humming the tune, while Meredith looked out of the window into the dark night. She recalled the events of the evening, how she was left absolutely speechless after Elliot mentioned her father. How did he know about her father? Even after receiving the letter that she did, why did it hurt so much when Elliot said such things? She knew it couldn't possibly be true; she trusted a letter far more than Elliot Redman anyway._

_"I wasn't sure whether I was going to come tonight, but if I hadn't been there, I'd hate to think who else would've given you a lift home." Izzie chirped, briefly looking away from the road to take a look at Meredith's appearance. She looked broken._

_"Hmm," Meredith moaned. Regardless of how much she was trying to prevent herself from falling apart,__ Meredith could feel a tear trickle down her cheek, _  


_"Look, I know you probably don't want to talk about it. But I wasn't in there. I have no clue what happened. It might be refreshing talking to someone who has an unbiased opinion."_

_Meredith hesitated for a moment, undecided on whether she wanted to open herself up to anyone at the present time, let alone someone she had no reason to trust._

_"You can trust me, you know?" Izzie reassured as if reading her mind. "I won't tell anyone."_

_"I don't know," Meredith grumbled. "I don't think I'm ready to talk about it at all. I'm still in shock."_

_"That's okay," Izzie said sympathetically._

_Neither said anything for a few more minutes, as both listened intently to the DJ on the radio, who was talking animatedly about a new competition that was going on. It felt way too enthusiastic for the night Meredith had experienced, but it took her mind away from everything slightly._

_Meredith's phone vibrated in her lap, and she looked down to check the caller I.D. on her phone. She recognised the name assigned to the contact, but felt no want to answer the call._

_Izzie's face scrunched up in confusion, "I thought you were friends with Derek?"_

_"You should mind your own business," Meredith said, her voice lacking any anger though. "And I thought I was."_

_"I'm sorry," Izzie said, before allowing the bewilderment to kick in. "What do you mean?"_

_Meredith sighed, "It's just. Elliot said some things today that really affected me, as you can see." She gestured to her distraught appearance. "But what he said. There's no way, I mean, he couldn't have known it without someone telling him."_

_"And you think Derek told him," Izzie stated rather than asked._

_Meredith nodded and gave a slight groan in agreement._

_"I doubt that." Izzie's brow furrowed._

_"It was either him or Mark," explained Meredith. "Or Cristina. But I doubt Cristina would stand to be within ten meters of him, and Mark was dancing with me before the argument, while Derek was talking to the man in question."_

_Izzie looked across to her companion, thinking about how she could assure the girl. "If Derek did tell Elliot, then I'm sure he never meant for things to end like they did. Derek's a good guy. I can vouch for him."_

_"You're only saying that 'cause he's dating your best friend."_

_"You think Rose is my best friend," Izzie snorted, seriously thinking Meredith was joking. "Rose is one of the most annoying people I have ever come across. I put up with her for the sake of not being kicked off the cheerleading squad, and not being sat at an awkward dinner table at Christmas time."_

_"What do you mean by that?" Meredith asked, dumbfounded. It was hard for her to accept that Izzie thought that way about Rose. If anything, though, it was a relief._

_"I mean my Grandma would have something to say if I started yelling at my cousin. That doesn't mean I don't want to."_

_A brief smirk crossed Meredith's face. "You're related? You're nothing alike."_

_"I hope that's in my favour," Izzie joked, before turning serious again. "Honestly, she's one of the biggest spoilt brats I've ever met, and she's SUCH a drama queen. Did you know, when you first arrived, she started to make up a rumour that Derek was considering leaving her to be with you?"_

_Meredith burst into laughter, confirming, "Yeah, that's ridiculous."_

_"I think you'd be a cute couple actually; much better than him and Rose."_

_"I think you're forgetting that I'm currently extremely pissed off at him," Meredith smiled. Outside, the scenery had become much more familiar, and Meredith could tell this was a good point to start saying her goodbyes. "Thanks for the lift Izzie, I really owe you one. And the chat was refreshingly good."_

_Izzie grinned back at her as she opened the car door. "Anytime Meredith; I'll see you at school."_

* * *

"What?" was all Meredith could muster.

"I was asking if you wanted to go dress shopping this weekend," Izzie repeated as if there wasn't a thing wrong with that sentence.

"I'm sorry, you didn't understand. Why do you think I'd like to go dress shopping with you?"

"I thought we were friends," Izzie said, looking a little hurt and embarrassed by Meredith's statement.

"No, it's not that," Meredith comforted. "It's just I wasn't planning on going to Homecoming. Or Prom. Or Dances in general. They're not my thing."

Meredith thought this would satisfy Izzie, but it only seemed to cause her further pain. "And why is that? Is it because of what happened?"

"You think I'd hold a grudge about that all the way up until Prom?" Meredith joked, her signature eyebrow raising taking place. "No, I don't agree with them. People spend too much money on dresses that they're never going to wear again. They don't even allow booze, for God's sake."

"But they're part of the high school experience," Izzie debated still in shock at Meredith's declaration of hatred towards something that she looked forward to all year. "They're fun."

"Answer me seriously," Meredith said, wincing prematurely for Izzie's answer. "What exactly is it about school dances that are fun?"

Izzie's eye widened and she had to take a deep breath to ensure the words came out of her mouth smoothly. "School dances are an opportunity to let yourself go a bit crazy. Don't you dare roll your eyes at me Meredith Emily Grey."

"How do you know my middle –" Meredith began but was ignored.

"I don't mean it in a big-headed, _I'm definitely going to get wasted then get laid _kind of way, but in a way that you can have fun with your friends in whichever way you choose to and no-one can really judge you for it. You spend time getting ready so that you look absolutely drop dead gorgeous and have a meal before-hand where you can laugh about how disturbingly long it took you all to look like you do and then you head to the party where you go absolutely stark raving mad with all the awful, out of time dancing."

Meredith sighed, "I'm still not convinced. I mean, you make it sound a bit more bearable but in your situation it probably is all pink balloons and corsages. With me it's probably going to be sneaking in a bottle of tequila and drinking it behind the school dustbin. I can do that at home, no problem."

"Please reconsider Mer," Izzie pleaded. "We can go together as friends."

"Iz," Meredith said, shocking herself at the use of the nickname, "I probably won't have changed my mind about Homecoming in the next month, and if you push too far, I'll have to revoke your right to call me your friend." Her tone was light at the end of the sentence though, indicating she was joking.

"Fine," Izzie huffed, although a small smile crept up onto her face.

As the two girls continued to walk towards the chemistry block, a dark haired boy caught up to them, panting slightly as he reached them.

"Mer," Derek said, knowing that her name was always a good start to get her opening up.

"Hi Derek," Meredith said with cold indifference.

"Are you alright after Saturday? I tried to tell Elliot to lay off you but he –"

"It's fine," Meredith interrupted. "I'm fine."

"Really?" Derek questioned, noticing how tense she looked.

"Yep," was the brief reply.

"I was wondering if this weekend," Derek began, "whether you wanted to hang out with Mark and me. I know Mom would love to have you over for dinner again. You could invite your mother as well." He attempted a smile, although his eyes proved he was uneasy about how she would respond.

"Uh, this weekend," Meredith rambled aimlessly. "Izzie invited me to go shopping with her. And I said I would. Because, uh, I need new clothes; all my old ones are a bit ratty anyway. And mom wants me to look more presentable. So, yeah, I'm going shopping. With Izzie."

"Mer," Izzie chuckled. "You're rambling."

"Am I?" Meredith said, trying to seem normal however undoubtedly failing. "Well," she said looking at her watch, "I've got to run. Don't want to be late for Chemistry." She ran off in the direction of the block, her bag bouncing wildly on her back, as both Derek and Izzie stared after her in confusion.

"Bye Mer," they both said in unison.

* * *

"Are my ears deceiving me, or did I really hear that you were going shopping for Homecoming dresses with Izzie Stevens this weekend?" Cristina dubiously asked a very erratic looking Meredith.

"I may have said that," Meredith admitted. "But, I'm not. I couldn't even if I _wanted_ to. I'm grounded, remember."

"Ah, yes. The dungeon master has yet to free you from your cell," Cristina mused. "But why did you say it?"

"Ugh, it's a long story. I only said it because Derek was there asking about me going over to his house one night at the weekend."

"So McDreamy wants to cheat on McBitch and you don't want to be a whore?" Cristina said, struggling to puzzle together the pieces.

Meredith rolled her eyes, clarifying, "No, although I did hear about how Rose is a complete drama queen."

"Tell me something I don't know," Cristina said sarcastically.

"Well, you've probably heard about my latest argument with Elliot."

"Round Two with McDouchebag," snorted Cristina. "Go on."

"Are you going to 'Mc' everything now?" Cristina nodded, waving her hand to encourage Meredith to move on. "Well he talked about my dad walking out on me and how I act out to get attention."

"Daddy Issues? I'd say more like Family Issues." There was a pause and Cristina wondered whether she had crossed the line. "I thought you didn't care about your asshole of a father though, so what has got you all upset?"

"I didn't tell you about the letter I found the other day from him, where he claimed he still loved me and regrets walking out." Meredith looked glum as if she was in a deep thought. "It was sent years ago and he could just be saying it to try and justify himself. But at the party, Elliot was saying how he left because I wasn't enough for him to stay. It made me second-guess what he said."

"That bastard," Cristina spat. "Next time I see him, I'll castrate him and force –"

"No, I just want this thing to be over," Meredith sighed. "I don't want the whole school to be talking about how I am harassing their beloved quarterback."

"Fine," Cristina said begrudgingly. "But why are you avoiding Shep then? Is it solely because he's friends with the enemy. Because, you know, Izzie Stevens is pretty much my enemy and you're pretty friendly with her."

"Are you jealous?" Meredith questioned mockingly. "I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty sure that it was Derek that told Elliot about my dad taking off. There was no-one else that could have possibly told him. I know it's extremely petty and he probably didn't mean any wrong, but until this whole thing blows over, I can't even look at him."

"Because you'll get lost in his dreamy eyes," Cristina teased, fluttering her eyelashes for effect.

"Cristina!" Meredith squealed. "No. Just no." She looked at Cristina curiously for a minute, deciding to ask, "Anyway what's up with you not being a bitter bitch? You should've told me to stop being a pussy about five minutes ago."

Cristina looked sheepish, which was a completely new look to Meredith.

"Because you're in a committed relationship, you've gone all soft. That's it, isn't it?"

"Pfft, I'm not warm and gooey," Cristina cackled. "But maybe I am happy about life at the moment."

"Whatever Owen's doing, tell him to keep it up."

"Oh, I will," Cristina said with a wink as Meredith let out a snicker.

**A/N: Ah, how I love procrastination ;). I know how lots of you wanted Derek to run after Meredith and make everything wonderful and fabulous, but a little bit of drama never hurt anyone. Also, I also felt Meredith was a bit hypocritical after saying all that stuff about her and Derek being friends to Elliot, yet she rejected Izzie on kind of the same pretense. She also needed someone to talk to who didn't really know anything about her or her past. Hm, ignore me.  
**

**Have a fab day and if I don't post before then, Happy Easter. And Happy Grey's Day!  
**


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